Devil Fruit Naruto
by Jakker
Summary: A starving Naruto steals a strange fruit and eats it. Kyuubi takes an interest and trains him to use it. How will the Elemental Nations be the same when Naruto has the power of Logia Devil Fruit? Strong!Naruto. Terrible at summaries. Titles too, actually.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everybody. Alright, this story has been calling my name, so I decided to start it. This isn't in the crossover section because Narutois only getting Devil Fruit powers, there will be no one from the One Piece world mntioned. Also, I don't think I'll pair him up with anybody, because that isn't really necessary for what I'm going for. Also, Naruto will be a year younger than the other members of the Rookie 9, because...well, I just want to do it like that.

I don't own Naruto or One Piece.

_~Start~_

A small boy with sunny blonde, spiky hair and bright blue eyes was walking down the street like a zombie.'I'm so hungry.' He thought with a dazed look on his face. Usually, he would be thinking about the death glares he was recieving from most of the other people on the street right now, but he was too hungry to care.

As he was turning a corner, he saw a man standing next to an open case that had a strange looking fruit inside of it. It was large, purple in color and had swirl designs covering it,(AN:Yeah, I have no idea what it actually looks like.) but all Naruto saw was food. Food that wouldn't be all that difficult to steal, at that. He knew he would have to run as soon as he grabbed it. If something was stolen and he was nearby at the time, it was automatically blamed on him, whether he did steal it or not. The man was trying to sell it to a merchant for an absurd amount of money, considering the fact that it was a fruit. Neither the merchant nor the man were paying much attention to the fruit, they were too into their arguing, so it was easier to snatch than he first thought.

As soon as he grabbed it, he too off as fast as he could. As he turned a corner, he heard a shocked exclamation, and could only assume the man had noticed his fruit missing, which inspired Naruto to move even faster. He was rather fast for a young child, but let's just say he had a lot of practice running.. He qickly got to his lonely, top-floor apartment on the seedier side of the village. He spent a few minutes quietly waiting to see if anyone had followed him, and after he was sure no one had, he looked down and grinned at his prize. Normally, he would be wary of eating a strange fruit, but he was too hungry to care, so he started eating it right then and there.

When he took his first bite, his eyes bulged right out of his head and he almost threw up what little was actually in his stomach."Ugh! This is terrible!" He exclaimed in horro and disgust. But when his stomach growled, he steeled his nerves, plugged his nose, and kept on eating._'I had to pick the most disgusting food to steal.' _He thought to himself dryly._'But at least it filled me up.' _He smiled and stood up to slip off his sandals. As soon as he took a step, he collapsed on the floor and passed out.

_~Mindscape~_

As Kyuubi saw what his host was about to eat, he couldn't help but grin in nostalgia. He couldn't believe that those fruits still existed. Usually he wouldn't help anyone, includent his host, unless it was a life or death situation or was of great benefit to him, but this was different. It was a somewhat personal matter to him, so he used his limited power to drag Naruto's conciousness into the seal and his mindscape.

Naruto woke up as soon as his body hit the ground."Ugh. Where am I?" He said dazedly as he looked around the dark room. There wasn't anything special about it. Plain walls...colored pipes on the walls...a half foot of water...a conspicuously large cage with a single piece of paper with the kanji for seal holding it closed.

Oh! Wait a minute. That _was _something special.

"Uh, hello? Is anyone there?" He questioned out loud. Oddly, despite being in a strange location, he wasn't nervous or scared.

"Over here, boy." A booming voice called out.

Naruto looked over to the source of the voice and saw the cage. He blinked."Uh, hello cage." He greeted the cage. He knew the cage wasn't actually talking to him, but he decided to mess with the one who was.

Kyuubi sweatdropped."You dunce! I'm not a talking cage! Look inside of it!" He yelled with a twitching eyebrow.

"Oh." The blonde said in fake realization and rubbed the back of his head in fake embarassment. Inwardly, he was laughing at the voice for believing he didn't already know that. Regardless, he approached the cage and peered inside. He saw a large, blood-red fox. It was currently picking its entirely too large teeth with its entirely too large claws. It was also staring at him boredly with its red, slitted eyes. Naruto smiled."Hey," he said excitedly,"you're Kyuubi!" Then, he realized exaclty he just said and a terrified expression overtook his features."Ahhh! You're Kyuubi!" He screamed and turned to run in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, he wasn't watching where he was going and ran full-speed into the wall and fell flat on his back while Kyuubi sweatdropped. His sweatdropp only got bigger as he witnessed Naruto try to get up only to slip and fall back down. When Naruto finally manages to get himself up, he started spewing incoherent questions at the Kyuubi.

Kyuubi sighed and closed his eyes in annoyance."Naruto." Kyuubi called.

"Naruto!" He called a little louder.

Nothing.

Kyuubi growled."Idiot! Would you just shut up and listen to me?" He roared out. Naruto was instantly quiet."Thank you. I will be sure to answer all of your questions. I'm guessing they are basically 'Where am I?', 'Why am I here?', and 'What are you doing here?', correct?" Naruto just nodded his head meekly."To answer your first question; we are currently in your mind."

"This is my mind?" Naruto interjected. Kyuubi nodded."This place is a shit-hole! Why is it like this?" He exclaimed and Kyuubi sighed.

"That's not important right now." He saw Naruto open his mouth to argue but he continued before the blonde could say a word."I'll tell you later, but right now there are more important things to discuss." The giant fox explained.

"Alright, fine. But at least tell me what you're doing here." The blonde demanded.

Kyuubi relented."When I attacked your village four years ago, I was being controlled by a masked man with a sharingan," Kyuubi stopped at Naruto's dumbfounded expression. He decided to explain."The sharingan is a dojutsu that allows many abilities to the owner, such as seeing through Genjutsu or copying enemies' jutsu. Those with the Mangekyo Sharingan have the power to control me." Kyuubi said with anger at the end. Then he noticed Naruto's blank face and sighed."You'll understand later. We'll work on it." He muttered quietly at the end."Anyway, I was eventually able to regain control of myself. I was about to just leave, so I wouldn't be sealed again, but those weakling shinobi kept attacking me, so I decided to destroy them and their village for their impudence." The monster fox said nonchalantly.

"Anger issues, much?" Naruto deadpanned.

Kyuubi coughed in slight embarassment."Yes, well, perhaps a little. Back on topic, after a while, your father was eventually able to summon the shinigami, and seal half of my chakra into you."

Naruto took in all of this information but one piece of it caught his attention specifically."Wait, my _father _sealed you into me?" The small boy asked. Kyuubi nodded."Who was me?" He asked in excitement. As all other orphans, he had always wondered who his parents were.

"I believe he was the leader of your village. The Yondaime Hokage. His name was Namikaze Minato." Kyuubi explained.

Naruto's jaw was on the ground."My dad was the Hokage? Cool!" He said with a huge grin.

"Cool?" Kyuubi repeated in disbelief."Aren't you angry that he sealed me within you which, in turn, caused your life of pain and lonliness?"

Naruto smiled and shool his head."Nope. He did what he had to in order to save the village. It's not his fault the village treats me like garbage. What was he supposed to do? Sacrifice another child? I know I could never do that if I had my own child, so I can't expect him to, can I?" He asked rhetorically, but then he frowned."Though, he could have at least left me _something_. And why wasn't I told?" He demanded, turning back to the giant fox.

"I would suspect that he had many enemies, so your true heritage was most likely hidden to protect you from them."

Naruto nodded in exceptence."I guess that makes sense."

"There, I've told you how I got here, so can I please explain why I brought you here?" Kyuubi said in exasperation.

Naruto shrugged."Sure."

Kyuubi nodded and cleared his throat."I want to talk to you about that fruit you ate. You see, that was no ordinary fruit."

Here, Naruto interrupted."You're tellin' me. It tasted like shit." He exclaimed.

Kyuubi gained a tick mark."That's not what I meant, you imbecile!" He roared out.

Naruto stuck his fingers in his ears and yelled,"Geez! You mind not blowing out my eardrums?"

The fox sighed again with a twitching eye."ANYWAY, that fruit was different because it gave you a special ability."

"A special ability?" Naruto questioned.

The fox nodded."Yes. You see, hundreds of years ago there were many special fruits that, if consumed, would grant incredible powers to the person who ate it. They were called **Akumi no Mi(Devil Fruits).** There were three types: Logia, Zoan, and Paramecia. Paramecia types would give a power that could affect the user's body, their environment, or produce some kind of substance. Zoan types give the user the ability to transform into a certain kind of animal, whether real or mythical. And Logias, the rarest and most powerful type, allows the user to turn into a specific element." Kyuubi finished his explanation as Naruto stared in awe. These fruits were incredible!

"Why haven't I heard of these fruits before?" He asked.

"Very few know of these fruits existence. They were consumed centuries and mutated into bloodlines. Unfortunately, most of the Paramecia bloodlines became so diluted that their powers were lost and the fruits never reappeared." Kyuubi said while privately thinking,_'Though I swear that one was never eaten.' _

"What about the other types?" Naruto inquired.

"The Zoan types were consumed by people who used inbreeding to try and strengthen the effects. Eventually, those people lost their human form and permanently stayed in their animal forms, due to too much inbreeding. However, they kept their intelligence. They became the Summoning Animals." The monster fox continued his explanation.

Naruto looked confused again."What are Summoning Animals?"

"We'll go over that some other time." Naruto pouted and Kyuubi rolled his eyes."As for the Logias, they are the source of the elemental bloodlines, such as Hyoton or Yoton. While they still have the ability to create the elements, they lost the ability to transform their bodies into them. The one good thing about that was that they lost the weakness known to all Devil Fruit users."

Naruto tilted his head,"And what weakness is that?"

"They could not swim." Kyuubi said flatly.

Naruto burst out laughing,"That's not much of a weakness."

Kyuubi scowled,"Maybe not _NOW, _but they were centuries ago when there was a much larger water-to-land ratio. And now you have that weakness. You cannot be in large bodies of water or you will die if someone is not their to save you."

Naruto smiled and pumped his fist in the air."Awesome! That means I don't have to bathe anymore!"

Kyuubi facefaulted,"No! You still have to bathe! I said _large _bodies of water, and a bathtub does not fit that description!"

Naruto stamped his foot on the floor, crossed his arms and pouted."Damn! This sucks!" Kyuubi rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"The reason I am telling you this is because the fruit you ate is one I created." Kyuubi said proudly.

Naruto looked shocked."You created these 'Devil Fruits'?"

Kyuubi shook his massive head."No, I only created the one you ate, and that is why I'm willing to help you master it, among other things."

"Who created the others?" Naruto asked, ignoring the second comment for now.

"The other bijuu each created one, but the others were all created by the Rikudo Sennin. The Rikudo Sennin is the man who discovered chakra and taught it to others, and also the man who created the bijuu." The Kyuubi said, correctly assuming Naruto would ask about him next."I can't really tell you much else about him. He died soon after he created me."

"He created you?" Naruto asked in shock. Kyuubi nodded."Wow. He must have been really powerful." He said in awe.

"He was the most powerful human to ever exist." Kyuubi told him.

Naruto shook his head."Anyway, you said you wanted to help me master these powers, right?" Kyuubi nodded."Why would you want to do something like that?" He asked suspiciously.

"I told you. It's because I am the one that created it. I've always wanted to help someone master my creation, but I've never had a chance. Now that I have one, I'm not going to pass it up. I can also help you with many things, not just these abilities the fruit has given you." The fox explained.

"So, with your help, I can be extremely powerful and become the Hokage?" Asked Naruto with extreme excitement.

"Since when do you want to be the Hokage?" The fox asked, puzzled.

"Since I found out my father was. I want to follow in his footsteps." He said wistfully.

"Very well. I can make you powerful enough to be the Hokage but I have two conditions." Kyuubi said.

"What 'conditions'?" The blonde boy asked suspiciously.

"For one, you must kill a certain man. The one who was controlling me to attack your village." Kyuubi said, a bit bitterly at the end.

"Alright, I'll do that. I would have done that anyway, considering he was the one responsible for my father's death and my lonely life." Naruto agreed easily.

"My second condition is, while I am training you, you must leave the village." The fox said.

Naruto's eyes widened and he got angry."What! Why should I have to leave the village? How am I supposed to become Hokage if I'm not in the village, huh?"

"Relax, brat. I didn't say you had to leave the village permanently, just while I am training you." Kyuubi growled out.

"Why?" Asked Naruto, still a little angry.

"The powers this fruit has granted you are extremely destructive and dangerous, not to mention powerful." Kyuubi explained."You could accidentally destroy a portion of the village, and you know they would all jump at a chance to kill you." Naruto had to agree with that."They could also discover you and try to steal them, which isn't possible but that doesn't mean they wouldn't try, or they could order you to stop using them altogether."

Naruto looked down and considered this. After a few minutes, he came to a decision."Alright, I'll leave the village. But when I come back, I better be super strong." He said with a grin.

Kyuubi grinned also."Of course you will be. I'm training you after all." The fox said smugly."You should also leave sometime this week, so we can get started as soon as possible. Also, you should leave during the night and tell no one that you are." He said seriously.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion,"Why do I have to keep it a secret. And why do I have to do it at night?"

"You are my host. They will not let you leave so easily and they will chase you." The fox explained.

"Oh." He said in realization."Alright. I guess I'll get out of here." He said as he turned around and left the room.

Kyuubi smirked,"Five...Four...Three...Two...One." After he said 'one', Naruto came back into the room, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"How do I get out of here?" He asked in embarassment.

Kyuubi chuckled,"Just close your eyes and imagine yourself waking up."

"Alright. Goodbye, Kyuubi." Naruto said as he closed his eyes and dissapeared.

_~The Next Night~_

Naruto had packed a few important belongings and some food and water, and set out under the cover of night. Due to his small size, no one saw him slip out the easter gate or dash into the forest._'Goodbye for now, Konoha. When I come back, I'm taking you by storm.' _He thought with a crooked grin.

_~Nine Days Later~_

An old man in formal robes and a triangular hat was standing in the middle of an abandoned, dusty apartment. He was holding a note that said,_'Dear, Oji-san. I'm leaving the village for now, but one day I'll be back to become a ninja and the Hokage like my father before me. I'll see ya later. Signed; Naruto.' _The note made him smile, but he did wonder how Naruto knew who his father was. He was still going to send some ANBU to retrieve him. Naruto was just a four yesr old boy and the Sandaime didn't believe he could survuve out there."Inu!" He called and a man in a dog mask appeared, kneeling.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" He asked, slightly dismayed by the disappearance of his sensei's son.

"Gather a team of our best trackers and find Naruto. Once you do, bring him back here, but make sure no harm comes to him. Understood?" The old Hokage asked. Inu nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The Hokage then looked out of the window and thought,_'I'm going to have to inform the Council of this.'_ He rolled his eyes._'That'll be a fun time.'_

_~Seven Years Later~_

A boy was approaching the gates of Konoha with a smirk on his face. He was wearing a dull, crimson colored, long-sleeved shirt and some forest green cargo pants, along with a pair of black sandals. He had a small, beat up backpack slung over his shoulder and his spiky but shaggy bright red hair falling over his laughing, bright blue eyes. His skin was very tanned and he was a little short for his age at about 4'11". As he entered the gates, he dropped his backpack on the ground, stretched his arms into the air and declared."I'm back~!" While laughing jovially with a hint of michief.

_~End Chapter~_

So, how was that? If you're wondering why I didn't show his training, it's because I always find it boring when a chapter is focused on training and not the story. Basically, I hate filler.

Can anyone guess which Logia I gave him?

See ya later.


	2. Chapter 2

Tank you for all of the reviews! Like I said before, pairing Naruto with somebody isn't really necessary for what I'm going for, so I'm not going to do that. But, who knows? I may change my mind in the future.

_~Start~_

After he was done laughing like a lunatic, Naruto looked around and noticed everyone nearby was staring at him as if he were crazy. He tilted his head to one side, making some of the nearby woman giggle at its cuteness, and obliviously said,"What?" Inwardly, he was smirking. Even after seven years, messing with people was still one of his favorite pastimes. The gate guards suddenly realized they weren't doing their job very well and called out to the red haired boy.

"Hey, you!"

Naruto turned to look at them and pointed at himself as if to ask 'Me?'

The Chunin nodded,"Yes, you! Come over here, now!" He demanded.

Suddenly, Naruto was right in front of the guards' booth. He still had his light-hearted smile on his face. Meanwhile, both guards were shocked at the speed the boy just displayed. They didn't even see him move or pick up his bag, which was, once again, slung over his shoulder."What's up?" He asked the duo.

The duo quickly got over their surprise and the one that called him over asked,"Who are you and what is your business in Konohagakure no Sato?"

Naruto smiled even wider and answered,"My name is Naruto," He started. Both guards vaguely remembered that name, but a picture of a blonde boy with whisker marks came to mind, so this couldn't have been the same person."And I'm in Konoha to visit someone." Naruto finished.

The guard nodded but asked,"Who are you visiting?"

"A person." He replied, trying to make it clear that it wasn't his business.

Well, apparently the guard couldn't take a hint because he pressed on,"What kind of person?" The guard asked, annoyed.

Well, if the guard wasn't going to mind his own business, then Naruto would mess with him,"A good one."

The guard rubbed his nose and spoke with gritted teeth,"Who, SPECIFICALLY, is this 'good person' you're visiting?"

Naruto feigned realization,"Oh~," The guard smiled, thinking the boy had finally understood before Naruto continued,"A ninja."

The guard he was speaking to slammed his clipboard down and screamed,"Just go!" While the other one facepalmed.

Naruto plastered on a fake scowl and said,"Well, alright then. You don't have to be do rude, you know." As soon as he turned his back on the gaping guards, he smirked in amusement.

As he was walking through the village, he noticed that not much had changed in the time he was gone, but it didn't really surprise him all that much. He also noticed that he was turning some heads. Mostly girls around his age. He turned his head to a group of them and winked, causing them to blush, giggle and start muttering to each other about 'the cute readhead.'"

Naruto just continued on his way to the Hokage tower to meet with the Hokage. He still held onto his dream of becoming Hokage, so he was going to the Hokage to see if he could make him a ninja of Konoha. He was kind of hoping to be made, at least Chunin, because he knew he was too strong to be a Genin, but there were other factors needed to become a Chunin, so he was doubtful. As he was walking, his nose suddenly caught a heavenly aroma. He sniffed the air, looking around to find the source. He quickly caught sight of a small ramen stand. It was called Ichiraku Ramen.

He entered the stand and an old man standing behind the counter greeted him,"Hello, and welcome to Ichiraku Ramen!" He said jovially.

Naruto nodded back to him in greeting and grabbed a menu. He had never had ramen before and wondered if it would be any good. After looking over it and deliberating for a few minutes, he decided,"I'll take one bowl of Miso Ramen, please."

"Coming right up." The old man turned and quickly made his order. As soon as he got his bowl, he dug right in. When he took his first bite, he though he had died and gone to heaven. He quickly shoveled down the rest of his bowl as the others in the stand were staring at him in disgust.

"Another Miso Ramen!" Naruto declared after he finished.

Thirty minutes and an extremely happy ramen chef later, Naruto left the stand with a noticeably lighter wallet and a satisfied smile on his face and continued his journey to the Hokage Tower.

As he was standing in front of the building, he realized the Hokage was a very busy man, so it would probably be hours before he could see him, if he even could today. He then caught sight of an open window and grinned. That would certainly let him see the Hokage without the long wait, wouldn't it? Of course, the ANBU would probably not like him just leaping into the Hokage's office and attack him, so he would have to be quick about it.

He looked around at the ANBU and when they weren't looking, he blurred and suddenly appeared in front of the Hokage, startling the old man. The two ANBU guards in the corner of the room were about to lunge at the boy, as was the Hokage, but before they could, the boy held his hands up and screamed,"Wait!"

The Hokage hesitated for a moment but decided to call of his guards. He narrowed his eyes at the boy,"Speak, boy. What are you doing in my office?"

The boy lowered his hands and spoke with a smile,"I wanted to talk to you, so you could make me a ninja."

The old Sandaime raised an eyebrow and asked,"Then why didn't you just make an appointment?"

"Cause that would take hours, and I didn't want to wait." The redhead said with an easygoing smile.

The ANBU and the Hokage sweatdropped but completely relaxed. They could see the boy meant them no harm and didn't really take him seriously as a threat."Well, that aside, I'm afraid you are too old to enter the academy, and for all I know, you are a spy." The Hokage told him firmly.

"I'm not a spy!" He said indignantly."I was born here! I just left to train on my own about seven years ago." He declared and the Sandaime's eyebrows shot up. The only child he knew that left the village that many years ago was...

The Hokage stood up."Are you saying you're..." He trailed off.

Naruto smirked."I think so. I know the last time we saw each other I had blonde hair and whisker marks on my face but I'm still the same Uzumaki Naruto I was back then." He finished with an overly-dramatic bow.

"Naruto?" The old man said, shocked. The redhead nodded with his smirk still on his face. The Hokage quickly rushed over and gave the boy a tight embrace.

Naruto quickly turned blue."O-Ojii-san...can't...breathe." He managed to gasp out. The Hokage quickly let go with a somewhat sheepish look on his face, but Naruto didn't notice because he was too busy gasping for air on his hands and knees.

The Sandaime apologized but turned serious at the next moment."Naruto-kun, I have many questions."

Naruto nodded but didn't lose his smirk."You want to know where I went and what I was doing, right?"

Hiruzen nodded."I would also like to know how you found out who your father was. But first, why do you look so different?" He asked as he sat back down in his chair and Naruto took the one across from him.

Naruto shrugged,"I don't really know myself. One day, I woke up and my hair was this color and my whisker marks were gone. I think it might have something to do with my bloodline, I'll tell you how I got it later," He said at the Hokage's surprised expression,"but I'm not sure. Not like I mind, though. I look much sexier with red hair." He finished with his foxy smirk.

The Hokage sweatdropped."Anyway, tell me where you were and what you were doing, please."

"Alright. Well, I was all over the Elemental Nations. I avoided the Hidden Villages just in case I was spotted and sent back. I haven't really done anything exciting. Just training and taking out some bandits and missing-nin every now and then to help out some towns and villages." Naruto told his rather boring story and the Sandaime nodded.

"But I sent some of my best ANBU trackers after you."

Naruto rolled his eyes."I know. Gotta tell ya, they were a pain in the ass to avoid."

The Hokage sweatdropped once again."But how did you evade them?" He asked, dumbfounded.

Naruto started picking his ear,"Wasn't that hard for me. I'm pretty good at stealth and it helps when they're not really trying all that hard to find you." He stated boredly and Hiruzen needed no explanation on that last part, but he wondered if Naruto knew about Kyuubi. He decided to ask.

"Do you know about-" He started but was cut off by Naruto.

"Yeah, I know about Kurama. He's the one who has been training me, and he was the one who told me about my father." He stated but the Hokage looked confused.

"Kurama?"

"Oh, sorry. I mean Kyuubi." The Hokage and the two ANBU in the room immediately stiffened. Naruto chuckled,"Oh, don't look so worried. He hasn't influenced me or possessed me or any of that garbage. All he did was train me."

The Hokage shook his head,"Naruto, you can't trust the Kyuubi. It must have wante-" His rant was interrupted when Naruto held his hand up.

"Stop. Just stop." He said in exasperation."I swear that all he did was train me."

The Hokage let out a sigh,"Okay, say I believe you. Why would he want to train you and how did he know about your father? Also, you still haven't told me how you got a bloodline."

"I'm getting there. Well, first, he knew who my father was because, in his words, 'Only a half-blind, mentally handicapped person wouldn't be able to figure it out, considering the resemblence you two have.'" The Hokage had a deadpan expression on his face after hearing that almost the entire population of Konoha were called 'half-blind' and 'mentally handicapped'."Well, I guess the resemblence we used to have now." Naruto said offhandedly before continuing,"Anyway, one day, seven years ago, I was really hungry. I had no money and no food in my apartment, but I didn't want to bother you with my problems."

Sarutobi looked sad,"Naruto-kun, you know you could have come to me."

Naruto just shrugged,"Anyway, as I was walking through the village, I saw this man trying to sell this strange fruit to a merchant for a ridiculous amount of money. Like five million ryo." The Hokage let out a chuckle and Naruto joined him,"I know, right? Well, they weren't paying much attention to the fruit, since they were so into their arguing, so I snatched it." The Hokage looked at him disapprovingly. Naruto waved his hands in front of himself,"Hey, I was hungry." The Hokage didn't let up on his stare and he just rolled his eyes."It tasted like shit, if that helps."

The Sandaime stopped his look and smiled."Actually, yes, that does help."

Naruto deadpanned.

"Continuing on with my story, apparenlty that fruit was something called a Devil Fruit," So he explained to the Hokage about the fruits and how they were the source off the majority of the bloodlines in the world as well as the Summoning Animals. He also exolained that Kyuubi wanted to train him in using it because he created the one Naruto ate. The Hokage was shocked at the power that these 'Devil Fruits' possessed as well as who created them. It also confirmed the belief that the Rikudo Sennin actually existed. He was also surprised that Naruto managed to eat a Logia, the most powerful and rarest of the three, let alone the one the Kyuubi created."You can only have one, though."

"What bloodline did the one you ate grant you?" Hiruzen inquired.

"That's," Naruto leaned in closer, prompting the Hokage to do the same,"a secret." He finished in a whisper, causing the Hokage to facefault and him to start laughing madly.

The Hokage quickly regained his composure and sighed,"It's obvious you haven't changed at all. If you don't want to tell me, I will respect that."

Naruto smiled."Thanks. I just want it to be a surprise. And I don't want to give away all of my abilities. I am a ninja, after all."

"Makes sense." The Hokage admitted."Now, you said you wanted to join Konoha's shinobi forces." Naruto nodded."Well, I think it is safe to assume that, since the Kyuubi was the one training you, you are powerful to at least become a Genin."

"Aww, come on. Can't you just make me a Chunin or something?" He complained.

The old Sandaime just shook his head,"Sorry, Naruto-kun, if you want to make Chunin, you're going to have to take the exams like everyone else." Naruto pouted but nodded in acceptance."You're in luck, though. There is a graduation exam later today at the academy. I can right you a pass, and if you pass the test, then you will be an official shinobi of Konoha."

"Thanks, Ojii-san!" He said in excitement. He took the pass and turned to head out but turned back with a thoughtful expression on his face,"Hey, Ojii-san, did my father leave me anything?"

The Hokage shook his head,"Sorry, Naruto-kun, he didn't have a compound or any clan jutsu, considering he was just an orphan. He also destroyed the Hiraishin scroll to prevent it from being stolen." For the first time, Naruto lost his smile before the Hokage continued."But there are a couple people who know the Rasengan, and his personal guard did know how to perform the Hiraishin but I'm not sure if they knew it's inner workings." He finished. They both could feel the shock coming from the ANBU as they realized just who Naruto's father was.

Naruto regained his smile,"It's alright. Hiraishin isn't really my style, anyway." Naruto soon left the room but realized...he had no idea where the academy was. After going back and getting directions from the Hokage, he felt kind of dumb because the Academy is right next to the Hokage Tower. In face, it's connected to it.

He got to the room and spotted a Chunin with brown hair tied back into a pineapple style ponytail standing outside of the closed door."Hello!" He called out to the Chunin.

The man looked over to Naruto,"Uh hello. Are you lost?"

Naruto handed the man his pass. The man read it and seemed to be annoyed but sighed in defeat."Alright, let me just introduce you to the class. My name is Umino Iruka, and my assistant is Touji Mizuki." The man opened the door and turned to the class of students.

"Hello cla-" He was cut off as the students talked even louder."Class." He called out, annoyed. He grew a tick mark on his head and his head suddenly grew to bizarre proportions,"Sit your asses down and shut the hell up!" He screamed at them and the class quickly quieted. Iruka quickly regained his composure,"Thank you. Class, we have a new student joining us today. He has been allowed, by Hokage-sama, to take the graduation exam with you." Iruka said, sounding like he didn't really like it himself.

"What?" A girl with pink hair screeched,"Why is this person allowed to just waltz in and take the exam when all of us had to work towards this for years?" She demanded, getting nods of agreement from almost every other person in the room.

"I guess I'm just awesome like that." A voice said to her immediate left. She turned and was startled to see an unfamiliar boy's face right in hers. She let out a strangled yelp and and fell out of her seat into the aisleway with a painful thump. The boy looked at her with an amused expression on his face."Oooooooooh, that's gonna hurt in the morning."

Now that everyone had a good look at him, all of the girls couldn't help but blush, even the pink haired one. The boy looked around at the class and stopped to stare at the boy he was sitting next to. After staring for a couple of minutes, he started laughing. The boy looked over at him and narrowed his eyes."What's so funny?"

Through his laughter Naruto managed to say,"Your hair...hehehe...it looks...hehe...like a duck's ass!"

The boy scowled and his fangirls jumped to his defense. It was the pink one who spoke, or rather screeched, first,"What did you just say about Sasuke-kun? He's more of a man than you'll ever be. He's also the Rookie of the year, so you better be careful what you say." She warned.

The boy had his fingers in his ears,"Sheesh, woman. Could you tone your banshee voice down a bit? I'm practically deaf in my right ear now!" He exclaimed in annoyance.

The girl glared at him with a furious expression on her face and fire in her eyes,"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!" She screamed even louder than he thought possible. She pulled her fist back and made to punch him. She connected and smirked, but the boy was covered in a puff of smoke and when it cleared, it revealed that it was Sasuke that she actually hit.

He was out cold.

The girl gave a gasp,"Sasuke-kun!" She cried out in horror.

The boy, who was now sitting where Sasuke was before Naruto switched with him, gave out a whistle,"Wow, that is some punch you have there." The boy looked thoughtful for a second and then seemed to come to a decision,"I know! I'll call you Gorilla Arms!" he shouted. This caused almost the entire class to start laughing as the girl became even more furious. She was about to open her mouth to continue screaming at him, but before she could, Iruka interrupted her.

"Sakura, please stop screaming while we still have our hearing intact," He said tiredly. The girl blushed in embarrasment. Iruka turned to look at Naruto."And you. Please stop causing trouble."

Naruto gave an overly dramatic salute,"Yes, sir!"

"Now, will you tell us your name?" Iruka asked.

Suddenly, th boy was standing in front of Iruka,"Ah, of course!" He bowed at the waist,"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And I will be Hokage in the future!" He declared with a confident smirk on his face.

"Well, Mr. Future Hokage, please take a seat." Iruka said and, suddenly, Naruto was back in his seat. Iruka and Mizuki were slightly disturbed. They hadn't even seen him move either time, so they were unsure of how powerful he actually was. Iruka just shook it off and passed out the test...as soon as Sasuke regained conciousness.

_~After the Test~_

Naruto was holding his new Konoha headband and laughing on the inside at how pathetic the test actually was. First, they took a paper exam that had pathetic questions like 'Who was the Shodaime Hokage?' or 'What was the worst disaster to ever befall Konoha?'. Next, they had to demonstrate their chakra control with the leaf-floating exercise. The more leaves they could balance, the better their score was, with a maximum of ten. Naruto was dumbfounded to see that some had trouble with _one_. He had more chakra than almost everone in the village, and if he could do ten, then everyone should be able to. The only other who did ten was Duck-Ass and Gorilla Arms, though it seemed to be tiring her out.

After that, they were tasked to throw some shuriken and kunai at some dummies. He found this especially pathetic due to the fact that they had ten kunai and ten shuriken and they only had to hit the dummies seven times, in total, to pass. Naruto couldn't believe that was actually considered passing. That wouldn't fly in the real world of shinobi. Even worse, about one-fourth of the class failed this part!

Then, they had the taijutsu portion of the exam. You took on one of the Chunin and had to last a minute. If you were thrown out of the ring or knocked out, you failed. Naruto was amazed that some could only last about twenty-five seconds before being thrown out. Gorilla Arms and some other blonde girl, who's new nickname was Harpy, collapsed and nearly passed out after they lasted for a minute against Mizuki, who was holding back. Only Sasuke was able to force him out of the ring after about forty-five seconds, and Mizuki seemed to be holding back even more. Naruto himself had force the man out of the ring not even five seconds after his match began. Everyone seemed to chalk it up to Mizuki being tired and Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes.

And finally, the Ninjutsu portion. To pass this, they had to perform the **Bunshin no Jutsu(Clone Technique)**, the **Henge no Jutsu(Transformation Technique)**, and the **Kawarimi no Jutsu(Substitution Technique)**. Now, while he would admit that the Kawarimi was useful and every shinobi should know it, the other two could be seen through by even the most pathetic Genin. The Chunin seemed surprised that everyone had passed the exam, which told Naruto that other people had actually failed it before!

Right now, he was on his way to the Hokage's office to rant to the Hokage about the pathetic exam, but remembered that he probably already knew about it, and if he hadn't changed it yet, then he probably wasn't going to now. He just shrugged his shoulders while thinking,_'Oh well. I'll just change it when I become Hokage.'_

_~One Week Later~_

Naruto was back in the classroom awaiting the team assignments. He knew, before the test, that he would be put in a team with two other Genin, but after seeing them 'in action' last week, he was annoyed that he would have to be held back by these idiots. Usually, he didn't think such negative thoughts about people, but he couldn't help but feel this way about the pathetic Genins currently in the room with him.

"Hey! Naruto!" He heard someone call. He turned and saw the pink haired one and blonde girl glaring at him.

Naruto smiled and greeted them."Hey, Gorilla Arms! Harpy! How are you two doing?"

The two girls scowled,"Don't call me that!" They shouted simultaneously and made to punch him, but he dodged.

"I can't help but feel you two are angry with me." He said with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Ya think?" Harpy said sarcastically.

"Sometimes." He shot back, not missing a beet.

"Whatever," Gorilla Arms started,"Just move so we can sit next to Sasuke-kun." She ordered him.

Before he could answer, Iruka, looking banged up and bandaged in a few places, entered the classroom and told everyone to take a seat, forcing Gorilla Arms to sit next to him and Harpy to find another seat. Iruka started listing off the teams and quickly got to the people who were actually important.

"Team 7: Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, and Uchiha Sasuke." Every girl groaned at not being put with Sasuke," Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, and Haruno Sakura." Gorilla Arms and Harpy groaned at being put with each other,"Team 9 is still active so Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uzumaki Naruto." Shikamaru just graoned at being passed in the first place. Iruka finished as a beautiful woman with long, curly black hair walked in.

"Team 8, with me." She said as the three girls got up. Some might be confused as to why three girls were on the same team together. Well, it's because Kurenai asked for it. She wanted to prove that a team of Kunoichi could be just as effective as any other. She wanted to raise three respectable Kunoichi so that the Leaf's reputation of pumping out pathetic Kunoichi would be proven false. The Hokage saw her point and granted her request. As the three girls joined her, Naruto couldn't help but say something.

"Good luck with them!" He called out cheerfully.

The red eyed woman blinked,"What do you mean by that?"

Naruto flicked his wrist,"Weeeeell, Blue Hair is decent, but Gorilla Arms and Harpy are going to need _a lot _of work if you want them to be anywhere near ready for the real shinobi world." He said jokingly with a smile, but Kurenai could see the underlying seriousness in his words.

Gorilla Arms growled,"Hey! I passed the test like everyone else. I'm just as much a ninja as you."

Naruto outright laughed,"Please! You could train for years and not be anywhere near my level. You're pathetic in everything, especially taijutsu." Gorilla Arms flushed.

"Did you forget? I'm one of the few that actually lasted the entire minute." She said with a smirk.

Naruto clapped slowly, in a condescending manner,"Oh, bravo! You _barely_ lasted an entire minute against an opponent who was holding back, and then almost passed out from exhaustion. Good job! I'm sure that will earn you a feared reputation amongst the Elemental Nations." Snickering could be heard throughout the classroom as Gorilla Arms turned the same color as her hair.

Kurenai put her hand on her shoulder,"Don't worry. It's my job to turn you into a respectable shinobi. Before you know it, you'll be one of Konoha's top ranked Kunoichi." Kurenai said reassuringly and Sakura smiled at her words.

"That's like being the prettiest girl at an ugly competition." All of the boys burst out laughing at that, except Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Shino, while all of the girls glared at the redhead.

Kurenai turned to glare at Naruto, who had his hands up and was whistling innocently. She and the other three girls quickly left the classroom, irritated.

A couple of minutes later, a bearded Jonin entered the room."Team 10, with me." He said with a lazy drawl. Naruto and the other two got up and followed the man all the way to a barbeque restaurant.

They sat down at their table and the Jonin finally spoke."My name is Sarutobi Asuma. I will be your sensei from now until you become Chunin. I want you to tell me something about yourself. I'll go first. I like a certain someone, I don't like arrogant people, my hobby is playing shougi," At that, Shikamaru perked up,"and my dream is to have a family someday." He finished as he lit up a cigarette."Next, the Nara."

"Troublesome. My name is Nara Shikamaru. I like playing shougi against formidable opponents, I don't like not sleeping, my hobby is sleeping, and my dream is to be an average ninja." Shikamaru said with an even lazier drawl than their sensei.

"Please, stop! You're enthusiasm is killing me!" Naruto shouted dramatically. Then, he smiled,"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," He saw the recognition in the Jonin's eyes but didn't see and malice. He breathed an inward sigh of relief before continuing,"I like training, I don't like pretenders, hypocrites, stupid people, and ignorant people, my hobby is annoying people, and my dream is to become Hokage." He finished with a grin.

"Me next!" Kiba said with his hand raised,"My name is Inuzuka Kiba! I like girls. I don't like arrogant emos. My hobby is learning my clan Jutsu and my dream is to be the best Clan Head the Inuzuka have ever had." He finished, pumping his fist in the air.

The smoking Jonin nodded, feeling he was going to like this team."Alright. Well, I'm supposed to give you a test to see if you're really ready to become actual ninja..." He trailed off. Kiba was shocked, Shikamaru groaned at having to do more work, and Naruto was relieved to find out there was a secondary test before the academy students were let out into the world. Asuma continued, seemingly changing the subject,"What's your favorite food?"

"Ramen." Was Naruto's immediate reply. Hey, he may have just tried it, but it easily trumps any other food he has ever had.

"Mackeral and Kelp." Shikamaru said with a raised eyebrow.

"Beef steak jerky!" Kiba said, salivating at the thought.

Asuma nodded and blew out a puff of smoke,"Congradulations, you all passed the test." The other three facefaulted.

"What do you mean we passed? We didn't even do anything!" Kiba exclaimed.

Asuma just shrugged."Each Jonin gets to pick their test and I don't really feel like putting together a complicated one today." He said as he stood up."I've got somewhere to be, so meet me at Training Ground 10 and 9:00 A.M tomorrow morning." He waved over his shoulder as he walked away.

Naruto stood up and smiled at the other two,"Well, I've got to go, too. See ya!" He exclaimed as he disappeared in a shunshin.

Next, Shikamaru stood up,"See ya, Kiba." Was all he said as he walked away.

Kiba just shrugged and continued eating before...

"HEY! WHO'S GONNA PAY FOR ALL OF THIS?"

_~End~_

There ya go. Only one person guessed which one I gave Naruto and that was among a couple other guesses. Also, am I the only one that thinks ramen is gross?

See ya later.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello and welcome to Chapter 3! I seriously shouldn't have started three stories, and I was considering writing the other four I have in my head.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful reviews. Apparently, I am a heathan for not loving ramen, but I have only ever had top ramen, so I guess that would make a person hate it. If I ever had real ramen, I wonder if I would like it.

shadowfang jutsu: Don't worry about me abandoning this fic. Like I told someone else: If I ever abandon a fic, just assume I died. Also, I am not trying to make Naruto a jerk. I'm trying to go for a wisecracking/sarcastic Naruto. But, if he came off as a jerk, I understand. Sometimes those two can be very similar. It was the 'Prettiest girl at an ugly competition', wasn't it?

Warwolf16: I can see how you would think that, but, honestly, I didn't even realize I was making it seem like it was the Pika-Pika no Mi. It isn't, he's just really fast. For example, someone like Gai or even Kakashi could outpace him. I already had his fruit decided long before I even started this.

You'll find out what fruit he has in this chapter...

...Probably.

_~Start: A Few Weeks After Team Formation~_

Naruto groaned as they entered the Mission Hall to recieve yet another D-Rank mission. They were basically just chores that the civilians were too lazy to do themselves. Team 10 had just gotten back from capturing Tora, the Fire Daimyo's wife's cat, and were standing in front of the Hokage, waiting for their next chore. However, before the Sandaime could start listing the availabe chores off, Asuma spoke up.

"Actually, Hokage-sama, I think my team is ready for a C-Rank." He said. Kiba seemed excited, but Shikamaru mumbled a 'Troublesome' under his breath.

Naruto dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air."Oh, thank the lord!" He screamed, while everyone else sweatdropped. He suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly got back to his feet. He coughed in embarassment,"Continue, please."

The old man seemed surprised and, despite Iruka's protesting, grabbed a scroll from the pile of C-Ranks they had on hand."Ah! Here's one. Team 10, you are to deliver this message to the leader of Tanigakure(Village Hidden in the Valleys), in Kawa no Kuni(Land of Rivers)." He explained while handing Asuma a scroll.

"Understood, Hokage-sama." The Jonin said. He then turned to his team."We'll be leaving in one hour at the front gate. Don't be late." He said before leaving in a shunshin.

_~The Next Day~_

Team 10 was seen at the gates of a village much like Konoha only a significant amount smaller. Naruto was irritated. They had not encountered a single enemy during their trip. He thought they would at least have to fight a bandit! But no, not even a squirrel attack. Asuma lead them towards a large building in the center of the villlage. They entered and approached an older looking woman behind a desk, reading a magazine.

"Can I help you, Konoha-san?" The secretary asked.

"Yes, I have a scroll to deliver to the Jonin Commander of this village. May I see him." Asuma politely returned.

The secretary pushed a button on her desk and said,"Sir, there are some Konoha shinobi here to see you. Should I let them in?"

There were a few moments of silence before an aged voice came from the intercom."Yes, send them up."

The secretary went back to her magazine, saying,"Well? You heard him!"

Naruto and the rest of his team headed up to the Jonin Commander's office, where they were greeted by the sight of a very old and tired looking man. The man looked up and smiled tiredly at them."Ah! Hello there, Konoha-nin. I am Saito Takashi, the Jonin-Commander of Tanigakure no Sato." he bowed to them.

Team 10 bowed back and Asuma spoke,"Greetings. I am Sarutobi Asuma, Elite Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato and sensei to Genin Team 10." he said proudly. He then pulled out a scroll and handed it to the Commander,"Here is the scroll we were tasked to deliver."

The old man smiled,"Thank you. Now-"

Before he could continue, a Tani shinobi burst through the door,"Saito-sama! I have an urgent message for the Konoha-nin from the Hokage!" he announced and ran over to Asuma, handing him the scroll.

Asuma quickly read it and a worried look passed over his face. He turned to his Genin,"We are being sent as backup for Kurenai's team in Nami no Kuni(Land of Waves)." he said as he led the way out of the Commander's office.

"Why?" Kiba asked.

"They were sent on a C-Rank and encountered some missing-nin. Kurenai's team decided to continue on despite the danger but have requested backup. Since we are the closest team to Nami, we are being sent. We should be able to get there in about six hours if we hurry." he explained, speeding up with the others following.

_~With Team 8~_

Sakura was terrified. When Kurenai recommended her team for a C-Rank, she wasn't as excited as Ino. In the past few weeks, Kurenai had put them throught a grueling training regime. Endless physical exercises, teamwork exercises, and more physical exercises. Sakura had never realized how pathetic she was physically. She knew she had gotten better, though she doubted she would be of any help in this situation. After they had been attacked by those two Kiri missing-nin, Sakura had wanted to go back. They weren't ready for this. But she agreed to continue on after hearing Tazuna's story, which she realized now was a guilt trip. Anyway, right now Kurenai was fighting some tall guy with no eyebrows and a large cleaver-like sword. His killing intent had paralyzed both her and her teammates. She thought she wouldn't survive if not for Kurenai's encouraging words.

Kurenai was holding out very well, but Sakura could tell this man was in a whole other league. Zabuza knew it, too. He started taunting the red eyed woman."Come on woman. Why don't you just give up? You know you're no match for me. If you hand over the old man, I'll let you live."

"No! I will never give up." she declared.

Zabuza looked annoyed,"Oh, come on. You're no match for me. You can't fight me alone."

Kurenai looked angry for a moment before she smirked,"I don't have to anymore."

Zabuza looked confused,"What are you-What the hell is this? I can't move!" he shouted.

**"Kagemane no Jutsu(Shadow Imitation Technique), **succesful." a strained voice called from within the forest."Now, could you guys hurry up? I can barely hold this guy."

Suddenly, Asuma appeared in front of the immobile missing-nin with his arm pulled back. He already had his trench knives out and was pumping Futon chakra through them. He threw his fist forward, but that was the exact moment Zabuza was able to break out of the Kagemane no Jutsu.

The missing-nin threw himself back, dodging Asuma's swing, but had to dodge to the left again as a cry of **"Gats****ūga****!(Fang Passing Fang!)" **and two grey cyclones flew past him.

Suddenly, there was a short, red haired boy in front of him with his fingers to his smirking lips,**"Katon: H****ōsenka no Jutsu****!(Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!)" **sending a volley of small fireballs towards the man.

This time, Zabuza countered,**"Suiton: Suijinheki!(Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!)" **Zabuza pulled water from the nearby lake and formed it into a wall to block Naruto's fireballs. When the resulting smoke cleared, he found himself face to face with Team 10.

"You showed up just in time, Asuma." Kurenai said in relief.

"Well, I couldn't very well let you die, now could I?" Asuma said towards his kind-of-secret girlfriend.

"Don't get too cocky," Zabuza interrupted."I'm still going to ki-"

He was interrupted by a few senbon entering his neck. His eyes went wide in shock before he collapsed to the ground. Asuma carefully went up to his limp body and checked for a pulse.

He didn't find one.

At that moment, a person in the uniform of a Kiri hunter-nin appeared on a branch above them. He spoke in a surprisingly soft tone,"I thank you, Konoha-nin, for distracting my target long enough for me to deal the finishing blow."

"A Kiri hunter-nin?" Shikamaru asked.

"Seems like it." Asuma answered.

The hunter-nin proceeded to shunshin down to Zabuza's body before picking it up and disappearing in a swirl of water. Asuma, Kurenai, Naruto, and Shikamaru couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was wrong with that but just shrugged it off as the Genin of Team 8 approached.

"Sensei, you're okay!" Sakura called out in relief.

"Thanks to Team 10. They showed up just in time." Kurenai answered, still relieved at their timely arrival.

Sakura looked around and scowled when she saw the redheaded boy smirking at her,"What are you smirking at?"

Naruto took on an innocent look,"Oh, nothing. I'm just surprised, is all."

"Surprised about what?" she asked.

"I'm surprised the Hokage let you out of the village with the job to protect someone. Apparently, he has a sense of humor." Naruto answered her.

"Hey," Ino interuppted,"don't underestimate us. We're a lot stronger than we were in the academy."

"And yet, both of you are still the weakest here, including Akamaru." he retorted.

"YOU-" Sakura started but was cut off by Asuma.

"Alright, that's enough. Sakura, Ino, calm down. Naruto, stop trying to rile them up."

"Yes sensei." Naruto said with a two finger salute.

Asuma turned to Tazuna,"How far is your house?"

"N-Not far. It's this way." Tazuna answered, turning in the direction of his house.

_~A Half Hour Later~_

The Konoha ninja were sitting around the dinner table in Tazuna's rather large house. They were currently eating a large assortment of seafood. Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, was very grateful to them for bringing her father home safely, but her son, Inari, seemed content to glare at them. After a while, Naruto had enough.

"Can I help you?"

"Why are you bothering to help us? You can't defeat Gato." Inari said, still glaring.

Naruto sighed,"I was wondering where this town's emo was."

"What?" the small boy said,surprised.

"You're this town's emo. You see, every town has at least one emo. Like in Konoha, there's that Uchiha with the duck-ass haircut, or that fatalist Hyuuga," he saw Sakura and Ino get angry at the way he spoke of Sasuke but didn't see Hinata flinch at the mention of 'that fatalist Hyuuga',"or even that silver-haired man that stared at the memorial stone for, like, an hour." Everybody was staring at him incredulously, but he ignored it."To answer your first question, no, you, as civilians, can't defeat Gato, but we, as ninja's, can. Well, besides those two." he finished, pointing at Sakura and Ino, who, once again, got angry.

"No, you can't! There's no such thing as a hero!" the small boy said before running upstairs.

"Geez, what's his problem?" Kiba muttered to himself but everyone heard it.

"Kaiza."

They all turned to look at Tazuna."Who's Kaiza?" Kurenai asked.

"Kaiza was a hero to this town. He was also Inari's adoptive father. One day, he stood up to Gato and was killed because of it. Inari hasn't been the same since." Tazuna answered.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to show him that heroes do exist." Naruto said confidently, wearing his signature smirk.

_~The Next Morning~_

Naruto and the other Genin were out by the water's edge, standing in front of Asuma and Kurenai.

"Alright everyone, we have some bad news." Kurenai started grimly.

"What is it?" everyone asked, besides Shikamaru, who already seemed to have an idea.

Asuma dropped the bomb,"Zabuza is still alive."

"WHAT!" Ino and Sakura screeched simultaneously.

"H-H-How-w d-d-o y-you know-w-w, sens-s-sei?" Hinata stuttered.

"When a hunter-nin takes out a missing-nin, they're supposed to cut off the head and destroy the body on the spot so there is no chance of any information from their village leaking out." Shikamaru explained,"But the hunter-nin who 'killed' Zabuza didn't do that, and, instead, took the body with him. Also, senbon are rarely used to kill, but can be used to put someone in a false-death state. How troublesome."

"Shikamaru's correct, but don't worry. It takes time for someone to recover from being put in a false death state, so we're going to train you between then and now." Kurenai said with a smile, hoping to ease some of the tension.

"But sensei, what's a little training going to do? You're a jonin and even you had trouble fighting Zabuza." Ino exclaimed.

"We're not training you to be able to take on Zabuza. You all will be fighting Zabuza's accomplice and any other ninja he may have with him." Asuma answered, blowing out the smoke from his cigarette.

And with that, they started some rather intense training. For Genin, at least. They started with water walking. What surpised both Jonin as well as the other genin was the fact that Naruto already knew it. What confused Asuma and Kurenai was that the readheaded boy seemed a bit nervous to be on top of the water and was eager to get off it when the training came to an end.

Next came strength and speed training along with team formations. Naruto was easily the fastest and most agile, followed by Hinata and Kiba, but Naruto outclassed them quite a bit. Asuma contemplated on whether Naruto was faster than him or not, but he was sure that Gai could run circles around him.

Gai was kind of a freak when it came to speed.

Kiba was the strongest physically followed by, surprisingly, Sakura. Naruto, who had average strength for his age, commented by saying,'Ha! I knew you had Gorilla Arms.' which resulted in Sakura trying to hit him which, obviously, failed. The next day, they worked on Taijutsu and Genjutsu. It was found out that Naruto couldn't do Genjutsu because of his massive reserved even though he had pretty good chakra control, but many of Kurenai's weaker Genjutsu and even some of her stronger ones had no effect. Sakura and Ino, however, had great talent for it.

When they practised Taijutsu, it was found that, while Naruto's taijutsu wasn't _terrible _perse, it wasn't all that good, either. When he was told this, he didn't seemed to be phased in the least. All he said was 'That's alright. When enemies try to engage me in close combat, they tend to die very quickly.' When asked what this meant, all he would do was smirk. Unsurprisingly, Hinata and Kiba were very talented with taijutsu, while the rest were even worse than Naruto.

A couple days later, they worked on Ninjutsu. This is where Naruto truly shined. Everybody was shocked at how adept he was in elemental ninjutsu. He could cast even the most advanced Katon jutsu with just a single handsign, something not even the Sandaime could do. He could also cast many Doton jutsu without having to slam his hands on the ground, something many Iwa ninja would be jealous of. Asuma and Kurenai decided that, since Naruto already knew his elements, the rest of them should, too. Kiba and Ino had fire, Shikamaru, surprisingly, had wind, Hinata had water, and Sakura had earth.

Since Asuma was a dual user of fire and wind, he took Kiba, Ino, and Shikamaru, and taught them a few helpful jutsu. He was delighted to teach a fellow wind user. Kurenai was able to teach Hinata a few defensive and offensive water techniques since water was her element as well, but since neither Asuma nor Kurenai had any experience with earth techniques, there was only one person who could teach Sakura, which she wasn't too excited about. Since Naruto _obviously_ didn't need any help, he had no reason to decline teaching her.

_~A Few Days Later~_

Despite their training, they didn't leave Tazuna unguarded. Every day, one of them would stay behind with Tazuna's family while the rest went to the bridge with him in case he needed protection while simultaneously training. Since Naruto didn't need any elemental training, he was chosen to stay behind to guard the family the past few days along with Sakura due to the fact that he was the only one that could teach her.

Naruto was currently in front of Tazuna's house showing Sakura a rather simple Doton technique, when, suddenly, he whipped his head to left, staring into the forest.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Well, Gorilla Arms, it seems as though we have company." Naruto answered.

Sakura twitched. No matter what, he would just not stop calling her Gorilla Arms. It was getting on her last nerve. She was about to yell at him until what he said caught up to her,"Company?" she looked over to the forest just in time to see two men with swords walk out.

When the two men saw them, they smirked."Aw, look at this. They left two kids to protect the family. How cute." the one with the eyepatch said cockily.

The one with grey hair smirked before turning to the house,"I'll get the woman. Waraji, kill the two brats."

The first man grinned, drawing his sword,"Sure thing, Zori."

Naruto looked amused,"Do you two play swordsmen actually think you can defeat a trained ninja?"

"Don't try to bluff me kid. Now, why don't you stay still. I'll make it quick if you do." Waraji said.

Naruto just smirked and shook his head before making the snake seal,**"Doton: Tsuchi Kair****ō****!(Earth Release: Earth Corridor!)" **Naruto slammed his foot on the ground and a large earth dome rose around the two faux samurai, completely trapping them. Sakura thought it was over until Naruto made the snake seal again,**"Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi!(Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction!)" **Naruto once again slammed his foot on the ground and watched as the dome fell apart and crushed the two mercenaries inside. He turned to Sakura, who looked horrified.

"Why did you do that? They were already trapped!" Sakura yelled.

"As a shinobi, you have to kill you're enemies before they get a chance to become stronger and get revenge. Remember that. Now, go get Tsunami and the brat and take them somewhere safer. I'm sure they have an idea on where they could go." Naruto said, uncharacteristically serious.

"Alright, but where are you going?"

"To the bridge. There's a pretty good chance the others are being attacked right now." Before Sakura could say anything else, Naruto was gone.

_~At The Bridge~_

When the bridge came into sight, it confirmed Naruto's suspicions. At the far end of the bridge, he could see a thick mist and quickly deduced that was where Kurenai and Asuma were fighting Zabuza. At the other end, he could see the fake hunter-nin totally dominating his teammates as well as Ino and Hinata. They all looked rather worn out and on there last legs, especially Ino and Kiba, who was cradling Akamaru. Tazuna was standing behind them. With a quick shunshin, Naruto appeared between them.

"Naruto, thank god." Shikamaru said, breathing a sigh of relief. Although the others may not realize it, he knew Naruto was strong enough to take on this fake hunter-nin.

"What's going on, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, not taking his eyes off the enemy.

"This guy is just so troublesome. He's too fast for me to catch in my shadow, he's adept in water techniques but he has a bloodline that lets him use the Hyoton. The few fire jutsu Kiba and Ino know are too weak, wind's no help, and water would just help him. Hinata can't get close enough to use her Jyuuken, and he already knocked out Akamaru, and Ino's family jutsu are too slow to be effective. On top of that, we're almost all out of chakra." Shikamaru explained grimly.

Naruto cracked his neck and smirked,"Don't worry, I'll take care of this." he said, taking a few steps forward.

"Naruto! Don't be stupid!" Ino yelled."What makes you think you can handle this guy when the rest of us haven't even been able to touch him?"

"You'll see." was all he said.

"Another opponent?" the masked boy stated."It makes no difference. Please, just hand over the bridge builder, I would prefer to not have to kill you, but I will if I must."

"Sorry, but you're going to have to go through me first." Naruto said cockily.

"Very well." the fake hunter-nin said before making a few handseals and muttering some words Naruto didn't catch. Before anyone could blink, Naruto was suddenly encased in a large block of ice.

"Naruto!" his teammates screamed.

"Dammit." Shikamaru spat angrily.

"Now you know your struggle is futile." the masked boy said."Now, hand ove-"

He was cut off by the sound of something sizzling. They all looked over to the block of ice and where amazed to see it melting. Once it was completely melted, they were shocked at what they were seeing. Naruto was staring at the hunter-nin with a huge smirk on his face, but the rest of his body seemed to be made of...

...magma.

_~End Chapter~_

There you go. I apologize for the incredibly long wait, but you know how things go. Playing video games, being lazy, working on other stories, and having to sit in this uncomfortable as hell chair that makes my back hurt like a bitch while I type kind of makes me unmotivated.

See ya later.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the reviews!

NARUTO1: Does this count? Ehehehe...

M619: Literally made me laugh out loud.

Serialkeller: Well, really, when you can turn your body to magma, do you absolutely _need _to be good in taijutsu? Also, what makes you think he doesn't already know another element? He does, he simply likes using fire and earth more. Plus, he is nowhere near as powerful with his other element. I also already had a plan for his taijutsu(*cough*Rokushiki*cough*). I also don't like using fuinjutsu in my stories. Reason is, everyone always makes it a: 'This seal makes is so that I win automatically!'. Every time he gets hit with a water jutsu he is screwed? Are you forgetting his earth nature?

OregonDucks: I wasn't going to at first, but I think I will have him know some Rokushiki, but don't expect me to use it all that often. However, I will only have him know Haoshoku Haki. And I have you to thank for suggesting it.

Ex10: Naruto heard your suggestion and won't stop laughing maniacally now.

Ranmaleopard: Well, you didn't reply to my PM, so I'll say it again. No.

~_Start~_

Nobody could believe what they were seeing right now. Naruto. Team Ten's Naruto. Sarcastic, wisecracking Naruto was standing there with his entire body composed of magma. And it didn't seem to bother him at all.

And _holy shit was it__** hot!**_

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked them casually.

"N-Naruto, w-what the _hell!_" Kiba cried out in shock, removing his jacket. It was too hot to wear that right now!

"I have no idea what you mean." Naruto said innocently as the magma receded back to his regular skin. None of his body was burned and his clothes were unruffled.

Everyone's eyes were wide, even the fake hunter-nin's, though they couldn't see it. Suddenly, Shikamaru started chuckling.

"What is it, Shikamaru?" Ino asked, recovering from her shock.

"Remember when Naruto said 'Enemies who engage me in taijutsu tend to die very quickly'?" he asked wryly.

They all nodded, "Yeah, so?" Kiba asked, still cradling Akamaru.

"This is what he meant. How can you fight someone who's body is made of magma?" he asked rhetorically, smirking. The others looked on in awe.

"Correct, shadow-boy!" Naruto announced. "Now, you guys might want to back up a bit. I wouldn't want you to get burned."

The others wasted no time in doing so. Naruto then turned his attention back to the hunter-nin. He transformed his arms back into magma, black smoke billowing out of them, and sent small, fist shaped magma at the hunter-nin.

The hunter-nin was taken aback by the speed of the magma, and just barely dodged. When the attack landed on the bridge behind him, they exploded, making deep, smoking gouges in the bridge. The hunter-nin looked down, and was shocked that his robes were on fire, even though he dodged the fists. He quickly uses his Suiton nature to put the fire out. He felt the material of his mask start to melt, so he swiftly pulled it off and threw it to the side, revealing his feminine face. He pulled out some senbon and sent them at the redhead, but to his shock and growing horror, they melted before they even reached him.

_'This is not good!' _the hunter-nin grimaced under his mask. _'I can't engage him in taijutsu. That's suicide. I would have to keep this long range, but that seems to be his specialty! Gah, I have no choice. Besides, I still have one advantage.' _he thought to himself, glancing down to the water underneath the bridge.

Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking something completely different, _'I wonder what other kinds of ramen Ichiraku's has.' _He looked at the gouges in the bridge that were a result of his attack and sweatdropped, _'I should probably be careful, or I could end up destroying the bridge.' _He then shook his head and shrugged, _'Eh, it's not my bridge.'_

Haku made a few handsigns, **"****Sensatsu Suishō!(Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!)" **As the name suggested, a thousand needles composed of water and flew at Naruto, who made his body turn to magma again, causing the water needles to evaporate before they reached him.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you're going to have to try harder than that." Naruto said smirking.

Haku twitched, "I'm a boy." he said tersely. He was sick of people confusing him for a girl!

Naruto's smirk turned to a grin, "What's that got to do with anything?" he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making the hunter-nin blanch. Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing loudly.

With the others, Shikamaru was pinching the bridge of his nose, _'Oh, Naruto...*sigh* in the middle of a life or death situation, and you still mess with your enemies.'_

When Naruto calmed down, he asked, "So, what's your name. I'd like to have one to match the face."

"My name is Haku. Your name is Naruto, correct?" the last of the ice users asked. Naruto nodded.

"I shall remember your name when I defeat you." Haku announced.

Naruto smirked and pulled his fist back. "Bring it on, girly-boy!" he yelled cockily, sending another magma fist at Haku, who dodged, this time without catching on fire.

Haku made a few handsigns, **"Suiton: Suiryūben!(Water Release: Water Dragon Whip!)" **A large orb of water formed in front of Haku, which then expelled a multitude of water whips, some speeding past Naruto, only to turn and come at the redhead from behind.

Naruto had the magma receded and made a handsign, **"****Earth Release: Rock Shelter!" **A small but dense dome of earth formed around Naruto, protecting him from the water whips due to Doton's advantage over Suiton.

Naruto then made another handsign, using the earth from the dome to shape it into a medium sized dragon of rock that was sent towards Zabuza's apprentice, **"Doton: Dosekiryū!(Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!)"**

Haku cursed and dodged again, his hands already forming signs, **"Hyōton: Haryū Mōko!(Ice Release: Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger!)" **Using his bloodline, Haku formed a large tiger made of ice that immediately started racing towards Naruto.

Naruto sighed in boredom, **"Lava Release: Lava Stream." **He sent a stream of lava from his mouth, easily decimating the ice tiger.

"Look, why don't you just give up. This is boring. Your ice techniques aren't strong enough to stand up to my magma. Maybe if you were older and had a better understanding of it you might have had a chance, but you don't as you are now. Your water techniques won't work, either, because I'll just counter them with my earth techniques." Naruto said with a condescending smile.

Haku growled in frustration, "No! I will never give up! I will do whatever I must to protect Zabuza-sama and his dream!" he announce, making many handsigns.

"**Hyōton: Sōryū Bōfūsetsu!(Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!)" **Two large dragons made of ice rose around Haku, their red, glowing eyes giving an intimidation factor. However, unlike what usually happened with the technique, where the two dragons came together to form a giant tornado, they instead came together to form an even larger dragon, massive in size. The dragon roared at Naruto before it shot like a bullet towards the small redhead, while Haku collapsed to his knees in exhaustion.

Naruto stared at the dragon with an amused smile, before sighing in disappointment, "You never learn, do you?" he muttered as a large amount of magma formed around his right arm. He then thrust his right arm forward, which formed into a large fist.

"**Dai Funka!(****Great Eruption****!)" **When the two attacks clashed, Naruto was impressed when the ice dragon held for a few moments, but it inevitably crumbled in the might of the magma. The attack wasn't over, however, as when the magma fist went up to the sky, it exploded with the sound of firecrackers going off, sending a countless number of molten rocks down on the bridge and the surrounding water, boiling it.

Naruto watched as the molten rocks collided with the area around Haku, he turned to where the others were approaching, smirking at their gobsmacked expressions. Tazuna, on the other hand, had a horrified look on his face.

"My bridge!" he cried out in horror.

"D-don't worr-ry Tazuna-san, you can r-rebuild it." Hinata stuttered out, trying to comfort him.

Naruto smiled at them, ignoring Tazuna's distress,"Well, guys, it looks like it's ov-"

Naruto had shock on his face as he looked down on his body, noticing his missing left arm and the rest of the left side of his body, aside from his leg.

They all cried out in horror, "NARUTO!" The girls had tears in their eyes, and his teammates looked like their favorite relative just died.

Naruto looked behind him to see Haku, covered in several severe burns and shaking in absolute pain, his clothes on fire.

Naruto sighed in annoyance, "Dick move, dude. Dick. Move."

They all looked confused at his nonchalance in regards to his apparent fatal injury. They realized why when they saw his injury. Instead of seeing his blood and organs, Naruto's wound was dripping with magma. They all looked relieved when the magma in his wound started reforming his body, including his arm. The magma receded, revealing his totally uninjured body, along with his undamaged clothes.

Haku looked absolutely crushed that his last desperate attack failed to defeat Naruto. Naruto once again transformed his arm into magma.

"I'm sorry, Haku. I can tell you're a good person because you didn't kill any of my comrades when I know you could have, but you are now a danger to me and my comrades." He then looked thoughtful for a moment and smiled, "Well, okay, you're only a threat to my comrades, but the point is this: I'm going to have to kill you." He said somewhat softly, totally opposite to his usual attitude.

Haku shakily put his arms up, "I-I wi-ill n-not f-fail Z-Zabuza-s-sama."

Naruto shook his head, **"Soru(Shave)."**

Naruto disappeared and Haku gasped in pain, staring down at the magma fist that was protruding from his stomach. Naruto pulled his fist out and caught Haku as he fell, slowly lowering his body to the ground to the ground, not seeming at all affected at the fire flickering on Haku's clothes.

"I didn't want to do that, Haku, but you left me no choice." Naruto said somberly.

"Za...bu..za...s...ama...I...fa..." That was all he could get out before he breathed his last. And on that bridge, Haku, apprentice to Zabuza, and last of the Ice Release bloodline, died.

Naruto sighed. It was true he didn't want to kill Haku. Hell, he never wanted to kill anyone, but he knew he had to, and he didn't regret it. He reached down and closed Haku's eyes.

"Rest in Peace, Haku."

Naruto took a deep breath and slowly walked back to the others, where Kiba immediately stormed up to him and punched him in the shoulder.

"Don't scare us like that again, you idiot." he yelled, hugging him while looking scared and relieved at the same time.

"Kiba..." Naruto paused and grinned mischievously, "Are you hitting on me?"

Kiba immediately stumbled back, looking incredibly embarrassed, "W-What are you talking about?" he said, blushing in outrage. He saw Naruto's grin and twitched, "You little bastard!"

Naruto simply laughed along with the others. Embarrassing people was always so much fun.

Ino sighed, "I'm glad it's over."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement before turning to Naruto, "Naruto, what was that?"

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "What was what?"

Shikamaru sighed and just looked at him, making Naruto hold his hands up.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you." he conceded. "But it'll have to wait until later." he said, toeing off his sandals, leaving him with bare feet. "I'm going to go help sensei."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Why do you have to take your sandals off for that?"

The redhead grinned, "Secret~" he said in a sing-song voice, before turning and heading off into the mist.

"Do you think he can help?" Ino asked, unsure.

"Do you see what he just did?" Shikamaru asked rhetorically, gesturing to the flaming bridge that had many holes in it after Naruto's battle. She nodded, "I think if anyone can help, it'd be him."

Asuma and Kurenai were having a hard time. First, Asuma tried to blow the mist away with one of his many wind techniques, but it didn't work for some reason. Then, Kurenai tried trapping the Kiri nuke-nin in a genjutsu, but every time she thought she had him, it turned out to be a water clone. They both had several small cuts on their body, and Asuma had a long gash across his chest.

Zabuza wasn't doing too well, either. Anytime he got a shot at a killing strike on either of them, they would notice him and counter. That was why he had several cuts and gashes over his body, but none of them were life threatening.

There was one thing they all had in common. There were concerned about the explosions that had been shaking the bridge a few minutes ago. Asuma and Kurenai didn't think it was any of their students, and they had no idea what that hunter-nin was capable of, after all. Zabuza was more worried at which of their Genin was causing the explosions, because he sure as hell knew it wasn't Haku. They all also felt the heat coming from the other end of the bridge.

Zabuza was shaken out of his thoughts as he heard the patter of feet. He knew it wasn't Asuma, Kurenai, or Haku because they were too light, so he knew it was one of the Konoha Genin. That had to mean that Haku was either unconscious or dead, and by the sound of those explosions, he was leaning towards the latter. He inwardly growled in rage at that thought and silently crept over to where the sound stopped and saw the redheaded Genin with his back to him.

_'Foolish boy.' _he thought, swinging his sword to bisect the small child, but just as his sword was nearing him, Naruto ducked under it, immediately turning his fist to magma and whirling around, punching towards Zabuza's midsection. Zabuza was a Jonin for a reason, though, and immediately placed his zanbatou in the path of Naruto's fist, but it was all for naught as his magma fist melted through the legendary weapon with little to no resistance, and continued to impale Zabuza in a similar way he had done to Haku.

Naruto 'tched' as the Zabuza in front of him burst into water. The redhead closed his eyes again and when the real Zabuza took a step, time seemed to slow down as a vibration was sent through the bridge that Naruto felt through his bare feet. Naruto turned and threw a magma fist in Seven Swordsman's direction. Zabuza, not expecting this, was hit by the fist in his shoulder, burning him, and making his right arm useless.

"Argh!" he cried out, alerting Asuma and Kurenai to his position. They rushed toward him and Asuma swung his wind enhanced trench knives, but Zabuza was able to use his Zanbatou with his other arm to block the punch, but the wind chakra cut through the blade easily, resulting in another large gash across his chest. "Dammit!"

Suddenly, a large tree sprouted out of the ground, encasing Zabuza and preventing him from moving. Zabuza looked up and saw Kurenai sprouting from the tree with a kunai knife in her hand.

"Let's end this!" she announced and proceeded to slit the man's throat, but, like all previous times, he burst into water. She narrowed her eyes and dismissed the genjutsu, _'Unlike the other times, he substituted just before I captured him. But who gave him that burn wound? Asuma?'_

"Kurenai, behind you!" Asuma called out in terror.

She cursed and turned around to see Zabuza start to swing his sword down to vertically cut her in half, a crazed look in his eyes.

"I've got you now-ack!" he gasped and looked down in shock and horror at the fist of magma protruding from his chest, like Haku had done not that long ago.

Asuma and Kurenai were also staring in shock and not just a little bit of relief. They saw the black smoke rising from behind Zabuza and the mist started clearing as the man's life force began fading away.

Zabuza weakly turned his head and had his fears confirmed. Haku lay lifeless on the bridge, covered in burns, and he could just make out a large hole in his torso, like the one he had now.

"H-Haku, I-I'm s-sorry." It was a testament to his power and pain threshold that he could get that much out. And just like his apprentice, Momochi Zabuza, famed wielder of the Kubikiribōchō, died standing up on that bridge.

Asuma and Kurenai watched the magma fist pull out of Zabuza's corpse and stared in shock at who had just killed that legend. Naruto, who was slowly lowering Zabuza's body to the ground, no magma in sight.

Naruto looked down on the man's body and sighed, "Rest in Peace, Momochi Zabuza." he said softly as the client and the other Genin approached.

Naruto looked at the Jonin's flabbergasted expressions and shrugged innocently, "What?"

"N-Naruto, what was that?" Asuma asked with wide eyes.

Naruto sighed, "Like I told Shikamaru, I'll tell you later. There are still some things that need to be taken care of." he said casually, turning towards the unfinished end of the bridge, where Gato and dozens of thugs were standing, grinning viciously at them.

Gato stepped forward, smiling smugly, "Oh, you got rid of Zabuza and that brat that broke my arm, huh." he said as he saw their unmoving bodies on the bridge. "I'll have to thank you for that. Now, I don't have to pay that bastard, not that I was ever planning on doing that to begin with." he announced his betrayal with a sick grin on his face. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by the redheaded child.

"**Katon: Karyū Endan!(Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)" **Naruto spewed a large and intensely hot amount of fire out that took the shape of a genuine looking dragon, which then split into three parts and sped towards Gato from the front, left side, and right side. The thugs and Gato were civilians and had absolutely no chance to avoid the attack.

They were incinerated in seconds.

Naruto turned to the others, who were all gawking, and said cheerfully, "Can we go back the house, now? I'm hungry."

Asuma stared for a moment before chuckling, "Yeah, Naruto, let's go back."

Shikamaru stepped forward and handed Naruto his sandals, "Good job." he complimented.

"Thanks." he said as he slipped his sandals on.

The all heard a noise, and looked over to see the villagers approaching, Sakura and Inari leading. They were all holding some make-shift weapon. Inari stepped forward, but upon seeing the bodies, turned green. Surprisingly, Sakura didn't. Kurenai had used her genjutsu to desensitize her genin to dead bodies.

"Are we too late?" she asked.

"Yeah, Gorilla Arms, you just missed, well, everything." Naruto said as he and the others approached.

Naruto looked down to Inari and smirked, "Told you so, kid."

Inari looked confused, "Told me what?"

"You see that ash pile over there?" he asked as he threw his arm around the smaller boy.

Inari looked over to the ash pile in confusion, "Yeah, why?"

"That is the remains of Gato and his thugs." he said cheerfully, and Inari turned even greener.

"Alright Naruto, that's enough." Asuma said, rolling his eyes at Naruto's antics.

Then, Naruto's eyes softened and he put his hands on Inari's shoulders, making the smaller boy look him in the eyes, "Look, I know why you thought that Gato couldn't be stopped."

"You...do?" Inari blinked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. You saw your stepfather as the strongest man in the world, so when he couldn't stop Gato, you thought no one could." Naruto said, shocking Inari with his perception.

"Y-Yeah." the boy admitted, tearing up.

"But listen, from what I've heard of him, he wouldn't want you to lose all hope because of his death. He would want you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and protect everything you and he care about with your two arms." Naruto said with a smile, and tears started falling from Inari's eyes. "Can you do that for him." he asked, holding out his fist.

Inari wiped his eyes and nodded vigorously, bumping Naruto's fist with his own, and they smiled at each other.

Naruto nodded, "Good."

The redhead looked around to see everyone smiling at him. Tsunami even had some tears in her eyes, and his Konoha comrades were staring at him with something akin to awe, and, in Asuma's case, pride.

"Aw, Naruto, I guess you can be sweet." Ino said with a smile.

Naruto turned to her, "Hm? Did you say something, Harpy?"

In Konoha, a certain cyclops Jonin sneezed.

Ino immediately scowled and gained several tick marks, "Naruto!"

Everyone laughed and Tazuna clapped his hands, "Alright, why don't we all throw a party in honor of the redheaded shrimp that saved us and killed Gato!" he announced, resulting in cheers from the villagers.

Naruto was smiling but froze when Tazuna uttered a certain word that he should not have uttered.

Inside of Naruto's seal, Kurama facepalmed, **"Oh, you foolish, foolish human."**

Naruto slowly turned his head towards Tazuna, smile frozen on his face, "What. Did. You. Call. Me?"

Tazuna looked confused, "What? Shrimp?"

Team 10 stared at the scene with wide eyes and quickly restrained Naruto's limbs just as the redhead lunged at Tazuna.

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL THE MOTHERFUCKER! I'LL SHOW YOU SHORT WHEN I RIP YOUR LEGS OFF! I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHIT DOWN YOUR THROAT! I'LL RIP YOUR DICK OFF AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS! LET ME AT HIM!" Naruto screamed, flames seeming to shoot from his eyes and mouth, causing Tazuna to stumble back onto his ass. Tsunami had thankfully covered Inari's ears before Naruto's tirade started.

"Tazuna," Asuma said, voice strained, "He's a little...sensitive about his height. Apologize, please."

Tazuna immediately bowed deeply repeatedly, "Oh! Uh, I apologize, oh great Naruto-sama! My old, feeble eyes made me see something that was completely incorrect. Can you forgive this senile old peasant for his foolish mistake?" he pleaded with reverence.

Naruto immediately calmed down, getting sighs of relief from his teammates. The redhead coughed, "Well, as long as you can see your mistake, I can find it in my heart to forgive you."

Team 8 looked taken aback by Naruto's outburst, and Sakura spoke, "Why'd Naruto get so upset when Tazuna called him sho-" she couldn't finish that sentence as she found Kiba's, Shikamaru's, and Asuma's hands over her mouth.

"Don't-" Asuma began.

"-You-" Shikamaru continued.

"-Dare!" Kiba finished.

Sakura, seeing their serious faces, wisely decided to shut up.

Eventually, the villagers all went back to their homes (Of course, that was after laughing at Tazuna for a_ really _long time.) On their way back to Tazuna's house, Kurenai approached Asuma.

"Asuma, what was that?" she asked her kind-of-secret-boyfriend.

"Naruto has, uh, height issues." he told her, grimacing. "During one of our team meetings, Shikamaru called him short." he added, lowering his voice so Naruto couldn't hear him utter the word that was not to be uttered.

Kurenai blinked, "What happened?" she asked curiously.

Asuma got a far off look in his eyes, "Let's just say I've never seen Shikamaru run so fast.

~_End~_

God, I seriously didn't know how to end this chapter.

Wow, Naruto has like a magma Chidori, or something.

I want to apologize for the wait, but college, other stories, and the fact that this isn't my job and I don't like feeling like this is a chore held me back.

I swear, when I'm waiting for a story update, it seems to just drag on and on and on, but when I check the last time I updated, I'm all like: _Has it been that long already?!_

See ya later.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the reviews!

_~Start~_

The next morning, Naruto walked down the stairs and into the dining area to see Team 8, Tazuna and his family, and the rest of Team 10 staring at him. He grinned.

"Guys, I know I'm good looking, but that's no reason to stare." Naruto said flippantly.

"Naruto." Asuma said sternly.

Naruto sighed in mock-exasperation and took a seat at the large table, "Alright, you want to know about my ability, right?" They all nodded, even those who had not seen his ability first-hand. "Alright, ask anything." _'Of course, that doesn't mean that I'll answer them all truthfully.'_

"Okay," Kurenai began, "How can you use Yoton?"

Naruto shrugged, "It's a bloodline. Three of the other countries have it, too."

"True, but no one in Konoha has ever had that ability." Asuma pointed out.

"Well, maybe my parents were immigrants, or they only carried the recessive gene for it." the redhead said smoothly.

"Wait," Sakura interrupted sternly, "How do you not know if your parents are immigrants? Why don't you just ask them?"

Naruto looked at her, "My parents died the day I was born."

This information shocked them all, except for Asuma. He was the only one who knew Naruto held the Kyubi, and he also knew who Naruto's parents were. Kurenai hadn't made the connection yet. Added to that, he knew that Naruto knew who his parents, or at least his father, because his dad told him Naruto knew. He also knew that Minato didn't have any bloodline, but he wasn't sure about Kushina. It was possible she had a recessive gene for the Yoton, due to Uzushio's proximity to Kiri, but he still got the feeling Naruto was lying.

Meanwhile, the others were horrified. They all had at least one parent and couldn't imagine what it was like to be an orphan. All alone your entire life, nobody there to tell you they loved you, no one there to comfort you when you're scared, or any other things their parents did for them. They couldn't fathom how Naruto could be so cheerful.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Kiba demanded, outraged. Trust was very important to Inuzuka and it upset him that Naruto wouldn't tell him or the rest of Team 10 this information. They were supposed to be friends, dammit!

"You didn't ask." Naruto said innocently. At Kiba's furious look, he sighed and dropped his shoulders, "Alright, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't think it was important. It's been so long since I've thought about it and I've been over it for just as long. Sure, I wish I had known them, but angsting about it isn't going to get me anywhere." Naruto said quietly.

"Fine, I guess that makes sense." Kiba conceded, backing down.

"U-um, I'm s-still wondering s-something." Hinata spoke hesitantly.

Naruto turned to her and grinned, "What do you want to know, Pretty Hair?" he asked, causing her to blush.

"Wait a minute!" Sakura interjected, suddenly furious, "I'm 'Gorilla Arms', Ino's 'Harpy', but Hinata's 'Pretty Hair'?" she yelled.

Naruto blinked, "Yes."

"Why?" she continued, still angry.

"Well, I give people nicknames based on their most distinguishing feature." he explained in a lecturing tone. He pointed to Hinata, who was still blushing, "She has pretty, blue hair, so I'll occasionally switch between 'Pretty Hair' and 'Blue Hair'," Then, he pointed to Sakura, "You, on the other hand, have freakish strength for a girl in relation to your age, so you're Gorilla Arms," he said, causing her to fume in rage. Finally, he turned to Ino, "And she screeches like a harpy, therefore, she is designated as Harpy." he finished, smirking.

"Why you-" Ino screeched before getting cut off by Kurenai.

"Enough. Hinata, you had a question?" she asked gently, turning to her last student, who had finally fought down her blush.

"O-Oh, um, w-well, you're so p-powerful, but w-we've never seen you in the A-Academy, or even in around the v-village." she said, making the rest of Team 8's Genin along with Team 10's realized it was true.

"Yeah," Kiba added, "Why haven't we ever seen you before? And another thing, why were you allowed to take the Genin Exam with the rest of us without having to go through the academy like the rest of did?" he demanded. It had been bugging him for awhile and now that he had the opportunity to ask, he wasn't going to let it pass him by. The other Genin nodded, wanting to know this as well.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, but he figured telling them wouldn't do any harm, "Well, I unlocked my bloodline seven years ago, and I left the village around the same time to train it in peace."

"So, you left the village when you were five?" Shikamaru asked, speaking for the first time.

"Four, actually." Naruto corrected. The other Genin looked taken aback.

"You're a year younger than us?" Ino said, her surprise clear in her tone. Naruto nodded with a smirk.

"Hold on." Tazuna spoke, "You left your village at four with no one with you? That's really dangerous!" he declared.

Naruto shrugged, "I wasn't _technically _alone. I had someone to train me and help master my ability."

"Who was it?" Shikamaru inquired.

"That," he paused, leaning forward, making the other Genin do the same, "Is none of your business." he finished, making the other Genin facefault. "Besides, I'm good at stealth. Even at that age, I could hide from a lot of higher level ninja."

"How'd you get so good at stealth?" Kiba asked, not really believing him.

Naruto averted his eyes, "I'd rather not talk about that." he said softly, causing Asuma lower his head, knowing what he was talking about.

"Whatever, but you still haven't answered why you were allowed to take the Genin Exam with the rest of us." Sakura reminded him.

"I've always been close to the Hokage." he answered simply. "And don't ask me why." he added as Ino opened her mouth, which she promptly shut.

"I still don't understand why you had to leave the village to train." Shikamaru said curiously.

"Oh, well, as most of you saw on the bridge, my powers are very destructive, so it wouldn't have been safe to train them in the village, what with the trees and grass all around." he explained leisurely.

"Makes sense." Kurenai conceded.

"My powers are also the reason why I have such a mastery over Katon and Doton. When I was training, I could learn the most complex and powerful Katon techniques in a few days, while I could learn the simplest in a few minutes. You will never find anyone better than me in these elements." he declared boldly.

"That's taking things a bit too far, don't you think?" Asuma said, though he could see that eventually happening.

"Nope." he shook his head. "I have mastered almost every technique I have come across that are Doton or Katon, and I barely have to use a handsign for almost all of them." he said, making them realize that his claim wasn't so farfetched.

"Lucky bastard." Kiba grumbled.

"In addition, if push comes to shove, I can simply do this," he said, holding out his arm which turned to magma.

"Holy crap!" Sakura said, stumbling back in shock.

Tsunami looked shocked, but Inari leaned closer, a look of awe on his face, "Cool~"

The others, who had already seen it, still looked surprised and started to sweat due to the heat Naruto's arm was emitting.

"How can you do that? Not even the most well known Yoton users have been known to be able to turn their bodies to lava." Kurenai said, honestly curious.

"I guess I'm just special." he answered innocently, which basically translated to 'None of your business.' He turned his arm back to normal. "Unlike my Katon and Doton techniques, the ability to turn my body myself to magma and use my Yoton took a long-ass time to master." he said, grimacing at his memories of training. He suddenly grinned, "But when I do, my enemies cannot even touch me."

"Damn, that's useful." Asuma commented. "I'm guessing that's why you didn't bother to really train your taijutsu, huh?"

"Well, that's not really true." Naruto replied. "I did train my taijutsu, I just prefer using ninjutsu."

Kurenai blinked, "But you didn't really show all that much knowledge when Asuma and I tested you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I didn't really bother showing my real skill."

"Why not?" Kiba asked.

"Well, I haven't perfected my taijutsu style, and some of it relies on my strength, which I do need to work on." he admitted. "And like I said before, I prefer using ninjutsu."

"Wait a minute." Sakura butted back into the conversation. "You can turn your entire body to magma?" He nodded. "Well, that has to take up a huge amount of chakra."

Naruto shook his head, grinning widely, "Turning my body to magma takes no chakra at all." he revealed, shocking them all.

"That's impossible!" Ino yelled, disbelieving. "Every ninja technique takes chakra, no matter what."

Naruto slowly moved his head from side to side, grin widening, "Not this. This isn't a technique, it's more like an innate ability that my body possesses, so it takes no chakra at all." he stated, reveling in the shocked look everyone was giving him. Asuma and Kurenai couldn't believe what they were hearing. It's never been heard of for a powerful ability as such as Naruto's to cost absolutely no chakra, but if what he was telling them was true, which they believed he was, then Naruto should already be a Jonin! "My Yoton techniques still take chakra, though." the redhead added as an afterthought.

"Is this how you survived that hunter-nin's sneak attack?" the lazy genius inquired.

Naruto nodded, "It took a long time for me to be able to transform on reflex, but I knew it was important and eventually got to where I could. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have survived. I can regenerate any wound, too. I could even survive being cut in half, either vertically or horizontally, and being stabbed in the head." he told them, continuing to shock them.

"Damn! You're practically invincible!" Kiba exclaimed. He was kind of jealous.

Naruto pursed his lips for a few moments before nodding, "Yes, basically."

"Not really." Shikamaru said, speaking up.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? And what makes you say that, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smirked at him, "You can turn your body to magma and avoid any damage from physical attacks and even take little to no damage from Katon, Futon, Doton, and Raiton, but you would still be weak to Suiton." he deduced.

"Oh, ho! Great deduction, Shikamaru." complimented Naruto. "You're right, I'm still weak to Suiton in my magma form, but that's what my Doton techniques are for."

"True." the Nara conceded.

"Wait, what does Doton have to do with anything?" Ino asked, confused.

"Ino," Kurenai began, and her Genin immediately recognized it as her 'lecture' voice. "Each of the five elements have an advantage over another as well as a weakness towards a different one. For example, Doton is weak to Raiton but stands strong against Suiton. That means that when a Suiton technique is used against Naruto, he can simply counter with his Doton." she lectured.

"You have all your bases covered, don't you, Naruto?" Asuma said, smirking.

"Mostly, yes." he confirmed. He looked around, "Any other questions?"

"I don't think so." Asuma said, seeing no one else have anything to add anything, but Kurenai suddenly spoke up.

"I would like to know how you found Zabuza through the mist." she spoke.

Naruto blinked, "Oh, that? Well, being a master of Doton, I have found a way to feel the vibrations through the ground. Doing that, I can find out where anyone is, what their build is, I can vaguely tell what they're doing, and I can even tell if someone's lying, unless they're really skilled at it, which basically amounts to most high level shinobi." he told them. "I call it Seismic Sense."

"Is that why you took off your sandals?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto smiled and nodded, "I can only do it in my bare feet."

Asuma clapped his hands, "Well, I think that's enough of grilling Naruto for now. Why don't we do our mission and go to the bridge." he said, causing them all to nod in agreement.

The rest of the mission passed with little excitement. After burying Zabuza and Haku on a nearby hill (They wanted to bury the Kubikiribōchō with the former Kiri-nin, but no one could seem to find it), Tazuna continued to build his bridge, with many more people helping than there were before, and Team 8 and Team 10 guarding him from...absolutely nothing. For most of the time, Inari was practically attached to Naruto, barely spending any time away from him. Naruto was fine with it, enjoying having the younger boy around. He had always wanted a little brother, and enjoyed teaching Inari to be sarcastic. Inari even admitted that he wanted to be a ninja, but he couldn't because he lived in a country without a shinobi village.

"Why don't you come back with us?" Naruto asked him immediately.

Inari looked at him in shock, "You'd let me come back with you?"

Naruto nodded with a smile, "Yeah, you're young enough to be enrolled in the academy, and even if they don't let you, I'll train you. If it's your dream to be a ninja, you shouldn't let anything hold you back."

Inari looked excited before biting his lip and looking down, "But what about my family? I don't want them to be sad and I don't think they can pay for this."

Naruto put his hand on Inari's shoulder, "You can still visit them during the summer during the break, and you can always write to them. Besides, I'll pay for the entire thing." he said, making Inari look up to him in shock.

"You'd do that?" he whispered, starting to tear up.

Naruto nodded, "If I can help someone achieve their dream, then I'll gladly do so."

Inari jumped on Naruto, hugging him, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he cried in happiness and gratefulness.

"Okay, your welcome. Now, why don't we begin your training now." Naruto said, grinning ferally, making Inari back up in sudden fear.

Later that day, Inari broached the subject with his family. Initially, Tsunami refused, but after Inari told her Naruto would pay for it, Naruto telling her not to keep her son from his dream, and some soft words from Tazuna, she reluctantly let him go, but only after making Inari promise to write her every week and visit her every now and then, which he readily agreed to.

A month later, the bridge was complete and the Konoha ninja along with Inari were ready to leave and return to Konoha. Inari and Tsunami were embracing, tears falling from both of their eyes.

"Hey, Naruto." Sakura suddenly spoke, looking thoughtful.

"Yes?" he asked, looking over to her.

"Well, you're a master of Earth Techniques, right?" she asked rhetorically, "So, shouldn't you have been able to finish the bridge yourself?" This caught the others' attention, and Asuma facepalmed when he realized he could have been back home a month ago.

Naruto nodded shortly, "Yep!"

"Then why didn't you?" Tazuna yelled at him.

"You never asked." he said simply, grinning on the inside as he saw Tazuna's hands twitch towards his neck. Though what he said next made the man pause, "Besides, don't you appreciate this bridge more knowing you did it with your own two hands instead of having someone else do it for you?"

Tazuna sighed and smiled, "Yeah, you're right. You know, kid, you're a lot more intelligent than you lead other people to believe."

"Deception is a shinobi's greatest weapon." Naruto grinned before adding, "Well, unless you can turn your body to magma. Then I'm pretty sure it would be the magma."

Tazuna suddenly clapped his hands with a smile, "I've got a name for the bridge, everybody!" he announced to the gathered villagers, making them all look at him. "For the one that saved us and instilled hope back into my grandson, this bridge shall be christened as 'The Great Naruto Bridge!'" he announced, to much cheering from the villagers, and a surprised look on Naruto's face, which soon evolved into a soft smile.

All too soon, the others had crossed the bridge and were walking along the route back to Konoha. Naruto soon spoke up.

"You know, it's funny." he said offhandedly.

"What is?" Sakura asked hesitantly, feeling Naruto was about to make a joke.

"Well, this was your mission, but I ended up getting a bridge after me." he said proudly.

Sakura was relieved. He hadn't really made a joke, so she didn't say anything. Of course, she spoke too soon as Naruto continued a few moments later.

"I guess that just shows how little you have to offer."

Sakura turned to glare at him, "Well, excuse me if I can't turn my body to magma like you!"

"You're excused."

"Ugh!"

_~Konoha: Two Days Later~_

As soon as they entered the village, Asuma turned to his team, "Alright, you guys are dismissed. Naruto, take Inari to your apartment. He looks like he's ready to drop. I'll take care of the paperwork to enroll him in the Academy." he offered. It was true about Inari, too. The younger boy looked thoroughly exhausted. He wasn't used to walking so much, and the backpack he had brought with him didn't help any.

Naruto looked down and smirked at the pleading look in the younger boy's eyes. He chuckled softly, "Alright Inari, follow me." he said, walking off.

"You girls are dismissed, as well. We'll inform the Hokage of everthing." Kurenai said, smiling.

The two Jonin quickly made their way towards the Hokage Tower, and entered the mission briefing room to see the Hokage.

"Ah, Asuma, Kurenai, how were your missions?" he asked kindly.

"They were fine, Hokage-sama. Team 10 successfully delivered the merchandise to Tanigakure, and we later went to Nami no Kuni to assist Team 8 with their mission. We were able to successfully protect the client until he completed the bridge. The injuries that were sustained were relatively minor, and there were no deaths." Asuma debriefed the old Sandaime, who also happened to be his father.

"That's very good to hear." the Hokage said, and them paused for a moment. "Say, did Naruto do anything, uh, odd during the mission?"

Asuma and Kurenai smirked at each other, and the former answered in an amused tone, "You could say that, Hokage-sama. But I'm not going to bother telling you. You wouldn't believe half of it."

"Naruto made you both promise you wouldn't tell me anything, didn't he?" the Sandaime deadpanned.

Both of the Jonin got sheepish looks on their faces, "Well, yes, but Asuma isn't lying when he says that you wouldn't believe half of it." Kurenai said honestly.

Sarutobi sighed, "That's fine then, but I expect both of your reports by the end of the week. You're dismissed."

Kurenai left but Asuma stayed, "Actually, dad, I need the forms for enrolling someone in the Academy." he said, switching from 'Hokage-sama' to 'dad' since they were alone now.

The old monkey raised an eyebrow, "Why do you need those?"

"Naruto brought a younger boy from Nami. The kid wants to be a ninja, so Naruto offered to bring him back with us. He's already started training the kid, too." Asuma told him.

"Oh, anything special about the boy? And are you sure he's trustworthy?" Hiruzen interrogated.

Asuma shrugged, "Nothing special really. He's slightly above average in chakra reserves, especially for a civilian, and he's in pretty good shape, but nothing other than that. And I'm absolutely sure he's trustworthy. He's eight years old, and I doubt someone would send a spy that young on the off chance we passed through Nami." Asuma explained.

"Alright then. Here are the papers." he said as he handed Asuma the packet. "Tell Naruto if he turns these in by tomorrow, the boy will be able to enter the Academy with the rest of the new students when it starts back up for the year." he added and Asuma nodded as he left.

_'Oh, Naruto. Wisecracking, sarcastic, almost never serious, but with a heart of gold.' _the Sandaime thought with a smile, lighting his pipe.

A few weeks later, Asuma and two of his students, Kiba and Shikamaru, were heading towards Naruto and Inari's apartment. The younger boy had started the academy and seemed to be doing well in everything. He had even made friends with the Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru. Anyway, three-fourths of Team 10 were heading towards Naruto's apartment because the boy had never shown up for their team meeting. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 10: 00 A.M., but it had gone past noon, and there was still no sign of him.

When they got to his door, Asuma knocked. There was no answer, so Asuma checked the doorknob.

Finding it unlocked he walked in, followed by his two students.

"Naruto? Are you here?" he called out to his wayward student.

They heard a faint voice from the back of the apartment, and followed it to its source. Asuma came to a door and opened it, finding it to be a bathroom with the shower running.

"Naruto?" he called again.

"Yeah, it's me." he called out from behind the curtain. "Sorry about not showing up, but I was training earlier. I must have fallen asleep when I took a break, and when I woke up, I realized how late I was. I rushed back here to shower, but I guess you got tired of waiting for me." the redhead said, chuckling nervously.

"Damn right we got tired of waiting!" Kiba exclaimed. "We're all starving! Right Akamaru?" The small, white dog barked in agreement with his partner.

"Eh, sorry. Why don't you all go help yourselves to something to eat in my fridge or something." Naruto said absentmindedly.

"Alright, we'll be waiting for you." Asuma said, closing the door and heading towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Kiba was practicing getting his chakra to form around his hand. Since he had found out his affinity to fire, Naruto had suggested trying to ignite his claws in fire for extra attacking power. The redhead had told him that it was certainly possible and wouldn't be all that difficult for someone to accomplish, even if you didn't have a freakish affinity for fire like Naruto did. However, Naruto had also told him to use his regular chakra first to avoid any unpleasant accidents. He was looking around, admiring Naruto's apartment. It was pretty big and looked expensive. It had three bedroom and two bathrooms, a big, flat screen television and expensive looking furniture.

When they walked into the kitchen, he was surprised as it was relatively small in comparison to the rest of the apartment. Shikamaru opened the fridge door while Asuma rifled through the cupboards, Kiba still focusing on his chakra exercise.

"Was Naruto screwing with us?" Shikamaru mumbled rhetorically. "There's nothing in here to eat."

"Nothing here, either." Asuma added, sighing.

Naruto looked over at them, annoyed, absentmindedly putting his chakra covered hand down on an open scroll on the counter, resulting in a puff of smoke coming from it. Kiba instinctively jumped away from it, while Asuma and Shikamaru whirled around.

When the smoke cleared, there were three strange looking fruits lying on top of the scroll.

Asuma raised an eyebrow, "Those are some exotic fruits. Maybe that's what Naruto meant when he said there was something to eat." he guessed.

"Probably." Shikamaru concurred.

"I wonder why they were sealed in a scroll, though." Kiba muttered as Asuma picked one up, sniffing it.

"They don't seem to be spoiled, and Naruto doesn't seem like the type to use poison in anything, so I think they're safe to eat." Asuma said as the other two each picked up a fruit. He saw they were hesitant, so shrugged and took a bite of his fruit, and immediately grimaced at the taste, and swallowed hard..

"Well," he chuckled. "They taste terrible, but I don't think they're spoiled. I've actually eaten ration bars worse than this, so it's not so bad. You're going to have to get used to the taste, so you might as well eat them. Go ahead." he encouraged them.

Shikamaru took a bite, gagging for a moment, "Ugh."

"What, Shikamaru? Can't take it?" Kiba grinned mockingly, taking a bite. His grin immediately fell into a disgusted expression. "Ugh! This tastes like shit!" he exclaimed in absolute disgust, about to drop his fruit in the nearby trash. He was stopped by Asuma.

"Kiba, that's Naruto's food. Don't wast it just because you don't like it. That's very rude." the sensei of Team 10 scolded, causing Kiba to drop his head in shame. He looked at his fruit, but plugged his nose and continued eating. When he saw Akamaru's begging look, he chuckled.

"Trust me, Akamaru, you don't want any of this."

Meanwhile, Naruto was just finishing rinsing himself off when he heard Kiba's disgusted exclamation. _'What's he talking about. I know I don't have much food, and I need to go shopping, but I know I don't have anything _disgusting_. Well, nothing except...the...fruits... _His eyes snapped open so hard, they almost popped out of his head.

"SHIT!"

He immediately jumped out of the shower, not bothering to turn it off, and barely paused to wrap a towel around his waist before rushing towards his kitchenette. He slid through the doorway, dripping wet and staring at at his teammates. He shot the hand that wasn't holding his towel forward and gripped Kiba's jacket, pulling the Inuzuka to Naruto until they were practically nose to nose.

"What did you just eat!" Naruto demanded loudly, sounding frantic.

Kiba blinked in surprise. He's never seen Naruto like this. "What's wrong."

Naruto started shaking him, "What did you just eat!" he repeated, not changing his tone.

"Naruto! Calm down!" Asuma ordered sternly. It looked like it took great effort on the redhead's part to let go of Kiba's jacket and calm down. "Alright, to answer your question, we each ate these weird looking, gross tasting fruits. Why are you so upset?"

When Naruto heard what they had eaten, he immediately slumped. His gaze shifted to the open scroll on the counter and he face-palmed, muttering 'stupid' over and over again. He lifted his eyes to his teammates.

"You all ate one?" he asked, still hoping it wasn't true. That hope was crushed when they all nodded and he closed his eyes. He suddenly snapped his eyes opened and whipped his gaze back to them.

"You all only ate one each, right?" he demanded, his tone even more panicked than before. He was immensely relieved when they all nodded.

"Alright, go into the living room. I'll tell you why I'm so upset in a few minutes." he said, using a small Katon technique to evaporate the water that had dripped to the ground and the water that was still on his body. He weakly made his way to his bedroom, his teammates watching him in confusion and slight worry.

_~End~_

Wow, that was exhausting. Oh, and I didn't give Kiba any variation of the Inu Inu no Mi. That would simply be redundant. Also, I don't want to hear anyone complaining about me giving other people fruits. I had always planned to, so it wasn't a spur of the moment thing. Try to guess on what I gave them, that's always fun.

See ya later.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you for the reviews!

You know, I knew some people wouldn't like the whole 'giving Devil Fruits to others', but I didn't think their would be so much _whining. _I mean, I understand where you're coming from, but I don't get how it makes Naruto less special. I had planned to do this before I even started this story, so I'm not going to change my mind and I understand if you don't want to read this anymore. Also, it's not so much that I wanted to give other people fruits, but I wanted certain fruits to be used. Team 10 will not be the last to get fruits, either. If it helps, I had planned to have Naruto eat another fruit...

For those of you who like what I'm doing with this, I appreciate your support.

_~Start~_

Asuma, Shikamaru, and Kiba were thoroughly confused. They were sitting in Naruto's apartment at his kitchen table across from the redhead, who, for some reason, was tapping the table with an extremely annoyed look on his face.

"What is it, Naruto?" Asuma asked, a little worried.

"First, I'm going to need you to promise not to anyone anything I'm about to reveal." He said seriously, "Not even your friends and families."

Asuma frowned, "Naruto, if it's something big, I'll have to tell the Hokage." he warned.

Naruto shook his head, "Jiji already knows. I just need you not to tell anyone. Anyone at all." he said.

The rest of team 10 looked at each other. Asuma nodded, "Alright, Naruto, we won't.

Naruto stopped tapping and stared at him for a moment. He heaved a large sigh, "I'm going to have to tell you something I hadn't planned to tell you for a long while." he said glancing at Shikamaru and Kiba, who nervously shifted Akamaru.

Asuma immediately knew what he was talking about, "Naruto..." he said in a warning tone.

Naruto stared hard at him, "I'm allowed to tell people. You aren't. And I have to tell you this. It fits in with those fruits." he said and Asuma backed off.

"Tell us what?" Kiba said, getting impatient.

"What do you know of the Kyubi attack?" he asked, staring at the Nara and Inuzuka.

Kiba frowned, "Well, the Kyubi attacked Konoha and the Yondaime sacrificed himself to kill it." he said and Shikamaru nodded, oddly a bit hesitant.

"Ehh! Wrong!" Naruto exclaimed, startling them all.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Kiba asked, confused. "That's what they taught us in the academy."

"They lied." the redhead answered. "The Sandaime made a law. No one was allowed to tell the younger generation what really happened that night. If you did, you would be executed." he said seriously.

Kiba gulped and Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, "Then why are you telling us?"

"I'm the only one aside from the Hokage that's allowed to talk about it because it concerns me." he said, looking down. The two other Genin glanced uneasily at each other, not used to seeing their teammate so subdued.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Nobody can kill a bijuu, not even someone as powerful as the Yondaime Hokage." he said and glanced away from them.

"Then, what happened?" Shikamaru asked, a suspicion forming in his mind.

"The only way to stop a bijuu is to create a jinchuriki." he said quietly.

"Power of the Human Sacrifice?" Kiba asked, cocking his head to the side. "What's that?"

Naruto sighed, "It is a person who has had a bijuu sealed into them."

"You're the Kyubi's jinchuriki." Shikamaru said immediately. Kiba's jaw dropped. He hadn't made the connection until Shikamaru said it.

Naruto nodded, eyes down, "Yeah..."

Kiba and Shikamaru noticed how Naruto seemed to hunch into himself, as if waiting for them to start yelling. They slowly glanced at each other and nodded. They both reached forward and...

...slapped Naruto upside the head.

Naruto jumped, clutching the back of his head, "W-What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

"Idiot!" Kiba yelled. "Don't look at us like we're going to start hating you or something!"

Shikamaru nodded, "We're not stupid. We know you're not the Kyubi. If you were, you wouldn't be standing here. Konoha would have killed you when you were a baby." he added bluntly.

Naruto had the grace to look sheepish, "Thanks guys." he smiled softly.

"I'm proud of you both for taking this news so well." Asuma said with a smile, "But what did that have to do with those fruits, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at him and took a deep breath, "When the bijuu were brought into existence, each of them created a single fruit, called a Devil Fruit. The Rikudo Sennin created the rest of them. Yes, he existed." he added at their disbelieving looks. "Anyway, each of those fruits bestowed upon the eater a certain power. When I was four, I ate the Magu Magu no Mi."

Asuma's eyes widened, "The Magma Magma Fruit." he whispered, a realization striking him.

"That's why you can turn your body to magma!" Kiba exclaimed.

Naruto nodded with a grin, "Exactly."

"And each of us just ate one of those fruits." Shikamaru said, his eyes wide. Naruto nodded.

Kiba looked excited, "So, now we have powers like yours?" he grinned.

Naruto laughed a loud, condescending laugh, and patted Kiba on the head, "Hahahaha...no."

Kiba scowled, "What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "You just said-"

Naruto cut him off, "You didn't let me finish." he said. He glanced to all of them and took a deep breath, "Now, there are three types of Devil Fruits. Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia. I ate a Logia." he informed them.

"What's the difference?" the Inuzuka boy asked impatiently.

"Paramecia's give the eater a super-human power which can affect their body, manipulate their environment, or produce some kind of substance." he explained. "Zoans allow the eater to transform into another species or inter-species hybrid forms at will. And Logias, the most powerful of the three, allow the eater to turn into a natural element or a force of nature." he finished, reveling in their awed expressions. "Now, when I first met the Kyubi, he told me that the Paramecias and Zoans were gone, and for the Zoans, that was true, but it turns out that when the descendents of the person that ate the Paramecias blood became diluted, the fruit reformed instead of being erased from existence like he thought." he explained.

After a few moments of silence, Asuma spoke, "So, which ones did we eat?" he asked.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. Every time I found a fruit on my travels, I would seal it into a scroll I had with me, which I would then seal into my arm." he said and sighed. "Unfortunately, I have to take it out every time I bathe, or else the ink will wash off and I'll have lost the scroll of Devil Fruits. So, I stupidly left the scroll on my kitchen counter, and you all ate one. I never labeled any of the fruits, so I don't know which ones are missing and which ones you ate." he said, slumping.

"Well, how do we figure it out?" Asuma asked.

Naruto grinned at them, "Training."

"Figures," Shikamaru muttered. "Should we even bother?" he asked.

Kiba whipped his head over to his lazy teammate, "What do you mean by that?" he demanded. "Why wouldn't we bother training these abilities? They sound awesome!"

Shikamaru sighed and put his face in his hands, "Well, it took Naruto years to master his abilities, so is a little training really going to do anything?"

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." Asuma said sagely. He chuckled at their expressions. "Besides, I'm always up for learning something new."

Shikamaru simply sighed in defeat, and Naruto nodded his head with a smile, "Good. Before we start, however, you all need to know something first." he said, suddenly serious.

"What?" Asuma asked, noticing Naruto's unusual mood.

Naruto sighed, "Eating a Devil Fruit grants the user incredible power, but there is a drawback." he said.

"What is it?" Kiba asked hesitantly.

"You can't swim anymore."

At his adeclaration, the sound of laughter could be heard coming from his apartment.

"Is that it?" Kiba chuckled, looking amused. The other two looked amused as well.

Naruto looked annoyed, "I know it doesn't sound like much, but if you ever fall in a large body of water, you sink like a hammer. You can't move at all and your Devil Fruit abilities are canceled out for the most part." he explained.

Asuma snapped his fingers, "That's why you looked so nervous when you were water walking in Nami." he declared.

Naruto nodded, "Yes. If you fall in any large body of still water, you're screwed. You have to have someone save you. And since now our entire team can't swim..." he trailed off, but they got his meaning.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, "So, we can never come into contact with water again?" he asked, grimacing.

Naruto shook his head, "No. Moving water, such as rain or waves, won't affect us at all, but large bodies of still water, such as lakes or oceans will be bad for us to come into contact with. I mean, we can still use the bath houses or something like that, but we should never take a mission that takes us near large bodies of water again." he said seriously.

Asuma nodded, "That sounds like a good idea." he said. "Now, I was going to train you all better in your elements, but I think training in our new abilities would be a better course of action. We have two months until the Chunin Selection Exams, and I think that should be enough time to get a basic grasp of our new abilities." he said, glancing at Naruto as if asking if he were right.

Naruto nodded, "I could use my powers within the first week, but it took me a couple years to master them to the extent that I have."

"Good. Now, Naruto, you're going to have to train us in this since you have experience." Asuma told him.

Naruto smirked, "That's alright. You three need all the help you can get. Also, I expect you all to call me 'sensei.'"

"Haha, no."

"In your dreams."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

Naruto pouted, "You guys never let me have any fun!"

_~Time Skip: Chunin Selection Exams Day~_

Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru were walking towards the Academy with their entrance forms. Naruto was grinning. He glanced around for a second before turning to the others.

"I want you guys to not use your powers in the Exams unless it's a life or death situation." he instructed.

Kiba frowned, "Why not?"

Naruto sighed, "If you do, people will start asking questions, and I'd really like to avoid that." he admitted.

Kiba backed down, "Alright, fine."

"That's fine." Shikamaru agreed.

Naruto smiled in appreciation and entered the academy, "Ah, this brings back memories."

Kiba and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Oh, yeah? Like what?" the Inuzuka asked sarcastically.

"Well, there was that time I took the graduation exam." he smiled. "And that time Sakura tried to hit me, but ended up bashing Sasuke across the face. Oh! And that time I introduced myself to the class." he sighed contentedly, oblivious to his teammates facepalming.

They walked up to the third floor, passing a large group of Genin that apparently couldn't tell when they had only walked up one flight of steps. Naruto was going to make a smart-ass comment on their intelligence(oh, he knew it was to weed out the weaker Genin, but he couldn't resist), but was stopped when Shikamaru put his hand over the redhead's mouth and kept walking.

When they reached the next floor, Shikamaru jerked his hand away, staring at Naruto with a disgusted look on his face, "Did you just _lick _my hand?" he demanded in outrage, wiping his hand on his pants.

Naruto stared at him innocently, "No~" he said slowly. He ignored the Nara's glare, and turned back to walk toward room 303. When they got there, Asuma was waiting for them.

"What are you doing here, Asuma-sensei?" Kiba asked, tilting his head.

Asuma smiled, "I'm here to make sure all of you came."

"Why?" the Inuzuka pressed.

Shikamaru answered for him, "I'm betting that if one of us hadn't shown up, the ones who had wouldn't be able to take the exam." he drawled lazily.

Asuma nodded, "That's right. But since you all showed up, all I have to say to you all is good luck." he said and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Team 10 glanced at each other for a moment before Naruto stepped forward and opened the door. Once they stepped inside, they were blasted with the occupants' collective Killing Intent.

Naruto laughed condescendingly, "Oh, look! The children are trying to intimidate us! How adorable!" The occupants glared harder because of Naruto's taunt. The redhead ignored this and glanced around the room, and suddenly jumped, pointing exaggeratedly at a team from Amegakure. "Oh! It's a team from Amegakure! They're great at being bland and sucking." he yelled, smiling. There were a few chuckles throughout the room at this...except for the more stoic genin and, of course, the teams from Ame, who glared harder.

Naruto continued gazing around the room, and spotted a pink head of hair. He gasped, acting scandalized, "Oh my God! They let your team take the Exams, Gorilla Arms?!" he exclaimed.

Sakura scowled, "Naruto..." she growled.

"Wow, your sensei must have really gotten sick of you." he said, oblivious to her growing anger.

Ino rolled her eyes, "Cut it out, Naruto, we're not in the mood."

"Hm? You say something, Harpy?" was his reply. He suddenly heard a sneeze from behind the door and turned just in time to see Team 7 enter the room, Sasuke leading.

"Sasuke-kun!" was a dual shout from Ino and Sakura.

The boy seemed to react instinctively and dodged to the side just in time to avoid the two girls' attempt to latch onto him.

Kiba stepped forward, grinning, "Ah, so all the rookies are here, huh?"

Choji stepped forward, surprising no one with the fact that he was stuffing his face with potato chips, "Looks *munch* like it."

"Well, you all might as well leave right now." Naruto smirked, "Cause Team 10 is gonna win this."

"I do not believe that is an accurate statement. Why? Because Sasuke was the Rookie of the Year and I, myself, was second in the class. Therefore, it stands to reason that Team 7 will be victorious in these Exams.

Kiba chuckled, "Trust me, Shino, reason has nothing to do with our team." he said, smirking viciously.

"Hn." was Sasuke's oh so intelligent response.

"Hey, you should all quiet down." a soft, gentle voice interjected. All of the rookies looked over to see an older boy with silver hair and round glasses approaching them.

"Oh? And why's that?" Sakura demanded.

The older boy chuckled, "Look behind you."

They all died, and Team 8 shrunk into themselves when they saw that the entire room was glaring at them. Naruto turned back to Kabuto with a raised eyebrow, "So what? The fodders are only glaring at us because they know they stand no chance against us."

This only caused them to glare harder.

The silver haired boy chuckled, "Oh, well. My name is Yakushi Kabuto, and I guess you could say I'm a veteran of sorts to these exams." he boasted lightly.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and smirked, "Well, I've taken these exams six times before?"

"Wow, you must really suck balls." Kiba and Naruto said simultaneously, causing him to sweatdrop.

"Or maybe these exams are more difficult than you think." he replied coolly.

Kiba and Naruto glanced at each other before shaking their heads, "Nah, you just suck."

Kabuto started twitching.

"You've taken these exams before?" Sasuke asked aloofly, speaking for the first time. Kabuto nodded, thankful that someone had put the conversation back on track. "Do you have any information on the contestants then?"

Kabuto smiled, "Yes. Did you have someone in mind?"

Sasuke nodded, "Hyuuga Neji, Sabaku no Gaara, and Uzumaki Naruto." he said.

"Is that all? Easy." Kabuto said confidently, pulling out a stack of cards. He pulled three out and channeled his chakra into all of them.

"Alright. First up, Hyuuga Neji. He was last year's Rookie of the Year, and is considered a prodigy among the Hyuuga for his mastery over their taijutsu style, the Jyuuken. His teammates are Rock Lee, and Tenten. He has done 41 D-Ranks, 12 C-Ranks, and two B-Rank missions." he said. Most of the people that heard this were impressed... except, of course, Naruto.

"Next, we have Sabaku no Gaara. He uses sand in battle, and his teammates are his siblings, Suna no Temari and Suna no Kankuro. He has been on zero D-Rank missions, 15 C-Rank missions, 7 B-Rank missions, and 5 A-Rank missions. It is said that he has returned from his missions without even a scratch." Kabuto said, sounding slightly afraid. The others were understandably impressed, even Naruto, who grinned in excitement.

"And finally, we have Uzumaki Naruto. I'm afraid I have no specific information on what he uses in battle, but it is rumored his ninjutsu is quite high." he said. Team 8 and Naruto's teammates snorted at this understatement. "Anyway, he has completed 17 D-Rank missions, one C-Rank mission, and one A-Rank mission." he finished, and the others looked less impressed.

"He doesn't sound like much." A nearby Genin from Kusa muttered.

Kiba laughed, turning to the Genin, "Trust me, underestimating Naruto is one of the worst mistakes you can ever make." he said with a smirk.

The genin rolled his eyes and turned away, "Whatever."

"Is there anyone else we should watch out for?" Sasuke asked Kabuto, ignoring the exchange. Naruto didn't sound all that strong, but something was telling him not to underestimate the boy.

Kabuto pursed his lips, considering the question, "Well, there is a genin team from Iwagakure." he said, and they all looked over to where he was pointing. There was a rather tall, rotund, dim-witted looking boy with a large nose sitting next to a cocky looking girl with pink eyes, and an aloof looking boy covered in bandages. "The girl is Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Sandaime Tsuchikage. Her teammates are Akatsuchi and Mumaru, a descendent of the Nidaime Tsuchikage. It's rumored he can use the Jinton(Dust Release)." he informed them. Most of them didn't know what that was, but Naruto smirked and looked closer at the boy.

_'Interesting.'_

"There's another team from Kumo. Samui, Omoi, and Karui. They're students of the Protector of Kumo, Killer Bee. They're said to be incredibly talented with kenjutsu and Raiton techniques. Next is a team from Takigakure." he said, gesturing over to another part of the room, where they could see an anxious looking boy, a heavily tanned looking girl with mint green hair, and a boy wearing a face mask staring at the ground with bored looking eyes. "The nervous boy is Shibuki, the girl is Fu, and the other boy is Takimaru. I don't know much about them, only that they're powerful, especially the girl." the Chunin Exam veteren continued. He then gestured to a team from Kiri, "Chōjūrō is the anxious boy with blue hair and glasses, the girl is Asamoya, and the other boy with spiky, green hair is Yūgiri. They may not look like much, but do you see those handles over theri shoulders?" he asked. They nodded, so he continued, "Each of those is one of the legendary Seven Swords of the Mist. They are going to be members of the next generation of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, so don't underestimate them." he finished.

Shikamaru sighed, "Geez...anyone else?"

Kabuto shook his head slowly before coming to a sudden halt, "Well, there is a team from the new village, Oto, but I don't know much about them, so they're probably nothing special." he said.

Apparently, the Oto team took offense to this. They suddenly rushed towards Kabuto, who dodged their attacks, smirking. His smirk fell and he collapsed to his knees, vomiting.

The one covered in bandages, apparently the leader, spoke with a deep, drawling voice, "Don't underestimate Oto-nin. It'll be the last thing you'll ever do."

A sudden puff of smoke made all heads swivel towards the front of the room. A tall, scarred man in a bandana was standing there with a scary smile on his face. He was surrounded by several Konoha Chunin.

"Alright, maggots. Turn in your forms and take a seat. The Chunin Selection Exams begin now!"

_~End~_

So, I was thinking about killing off Akamaru, so Kiba can focus on his Devil Fruit powers, but I wanted some feedback before I go through with it. Also, they could still use the bath houses, right? I think I remember Luffy using one once. I only asked because of the way I have them meeting Jiraiya.

You know, the more I write this story, the more I like it. It's a shame that some people don't want to read it anymore because others have Devil Fruits, especially since I was going to give Naruto some awesome Earth techniques, and especially with the other Devil Fruit I was going to give him. Of course, I can't exactly say that it's stupid. I'd be a hypocrite. I stop reading a story if they do something I don't like that will affect the rest of the story, so I respect your decision to cease reading even if don't think you should.

See ya later.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for all the reviews!

**NOTE**: Other people will get fruits, so if you don't like that, you should stop reading now. I also think it's amusing how some people_ warn _me that they'll stop reading if I give even more people fruits. Like I have to cater to their desires, and not what I want to do. That's obnoxious.

**NOTE 2**: Also, it occurred to me recently that I stupidly forgot to include the Kiri team that I wanted to create. I added it to the last chapter, so you might want to go back and look at that.

And yes, I realize that the Seismic Sense came from Avatar.

I don't own Naruto, One Piece, or Avatar, if I really need to mention that.

_~Start~_

"Alright, maggots. Turn in your form and take a number!" the man ordered loudly. Ten minutes later, everyone had their number. "Now, whatever number you have, that's your seat. If your not in that seat in one minute, you will be disqualified." he announced.

Many people scrambled to their seat, but the more sensible and calm ones just walked to their seats, which took all of five seconds.

"My name is Morino Ibiki, and I am the proctor for the first exam, which is a written test." Ibiki started as two Chunin started setting a piece of paper in front of each Chunin candidate. "Now, I will explain the rules to the written exam. There are ten questions in all, but only nine on the paper. You will receive the tenth question in the last fifteen minutes of this exam. Each question is worth two points. If you don't get at least half of them correct, you fail. If you fail, your teammates automatically fail as well. If you are caught cheating five times, you fail. Now, begin!" he shouted.

Naruto was staring down at his written exam with a nervous grin on his face. _'Hehe...I don't know a single answer to these questions.' _He thought to himself. Of course, he had already realized that you were supposed to cheat to get the answers, but he didn't really have anything to accomplish that. The closest thing he had to that was his Seismic Sense, but he doubted he could use that effectively in this situation.

He was about to just flip the test over and start doodling, but stopped as he felt someone take control of his body. He could have easily broken out of it, but didn't as his hand started writing answers to each question.

Naruto smiled, _'Thanks, Shikamaru.'_

In no time at all, each question on Naruto's paper was filled and the redheaded boy felt Shikamaru's shadow recede from him. He looked at the clock and realized he had a half an hours until the final question, so he kicked his feet up on the table, and leaned back, closing his eyes.

He steadied his breathing and feigned sleep. For a few minutes he was silent...until he started giggling perversely. "Oh, yeah, that feels _good_!" he said in his 'sleep', still giggling. Many of the other Chunin candidates choked in shock, while some of them just rolled their eyes or ignored him altogether. The ones who were affected by Naruto's 'sleep talk' had their focus lowered, unable to concentrate on their current task. Their attention was drawn to him even more when he continued, "Oh, baby, you know all my spots, don't you?" he purred.

Ibiki was about to fail the little perverted idiot, but his keen eye caught something before he did, _'That kid's not really asleep!' _he realized. He immediately figured out why the kid was feigning sleep when his eyes traveled over the rest of the room. _'The candidates are being distracted by his words, and getting more sloppy with their cheating attempts!' _he deduced as yes another team was failed. It was the seventh one since Naruto opened his mouth a mere two minutes ago. Ibiki inwardly smirked, _'I see. He's whittling the competition down. Alright, I'll let this slide.' _he decided.

"Oh, _yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesss ssssssssssssssssssss!" _the boy continued, starting to moan.

Ibiki deadpanned, _'He's a little bit too into this, though.'_

Meanwhile, Asuma had his head in his hands and was groaning in embarrassment. He and the other Jonin sensei were in Konoha's Jonin Lounge, watching the written exam proceed through a hidden camera in one corner of the exam room.

Kakashi stared over at him with an amused glint in his eye, "What exactly have you been teaching him, Asuma?" he asked teasingly.

The bearded Jonin glared at him, "Shut up, Kakashi."

Back in the exam room, Ibiki noticed that there was only fifteen minutes were left, and decided to wrap this up.

"Alright, maggots! Time for the tenth question!" he announced.

Naruto 'woke up' and stretched while yawning. He looked around with half-lidded eyes, "Wow, there's not a lot of people left." he commented 'sleepily.'

Ibiki smirked at him, "Yeah, your act had a lot to do with that."

Everyone's eyes snapped to the redhead, who grinned, "Oh? You knew I was faking?" he said, causing everyone's jaw to drop.

_'That idiot did that on purpose?' _Inner Sakura exclaimed, her fist shaking.

_'Fool.' _Sasuke thought to himself, thinking Naruto was just a fool with no skill.

_'Troublesome.'_

"Now, before I give you the tenth question, you have to decide whether you want to take it or not. However, if you decide not to, you and your team fail automatically." Ibiki announced maliciously.

"Well, why wouldn't we take it if we fail automatically if we don't?" Sakura piped up, confused.

Ibiki grinned evilly, "If you do take this question and get it wrong, you will never be allowed to take the Chunin Selection Exams ever again!" he revealed, shocking almost everyone left in the room.

"What?"

"That's not fair!"

"That's bullshit!" Temari exclaimed, standing up. "There are people here who have taken the exams before!"

"They didn't have me as their proctor! Unfortunately for you, I was chosen to proctor the first exam, therefore, I can do whatever I want." he yelled, glaring at her. She swallowed in fear and plopped back into her seat. "Now, if you don't want to take this question, leave now!"

Things were silent for a moment before one Konoha Genin stood up, "I can't take this! I give up!" he announced. One of the Chunin took his number and he left along with his teammates, who were glaring at him.

It was like a floodgate had opened after that as several more Chunin candidates left, unable to handle the pressure. After a few minutes, the teams leaving the room trickled to a stop. Ibiki gazed around the room with his menacing eyes for a few more minutes.

_'That's it, huh? No one else is leaving? Impressive.' _he acknowledged inwardly.

"Alright! For those of you left in the room," he paused dramatically, increasing the tension. Suddenly, he smiled, "You pass."

Everyone was dumbfounded and the room silent for a moment until several Genin started shouting and demanding answers.

"What the hell is going on?" one of them demanded. Ibiki waved his hand, gesturing for them to calm down. After a few moments, they complied.

"You want to know how you passed, right?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, this exam was to test your ability to gather information. If you got caught in your attempts to cheat, you were docked two points instead of failing outright. Make not mistake, however, in the field, if you are caught spying, you will be killed immediately." he explained. "Now, the choice of whether to stay or not was the tenth question. If you chose to leave and try again next time, you don't deserve to be a Chunin. Do you think Chunin can turn down missions and hope another opportunity comes by? No! Chunin have to be ready and willing to die for their country at a moment's notice!" he exclaimed. He then took off his bandana, revealing his head riddled with gruesome scars and puncture holes. A few people gasped and even Naruto grimaced. Ibiki opened his mouth to continue, but he was cut off as something crashed through the window.

Before anyone could blink, there was a barely dressed woman standing in front of a banner that read: 'The sexy and single Mitarashi Anko, Proctor of the Second Exam!'

There was a sigh from Ibiki as he walked out from behind the banner, his bandana tied around his head once again, "Anko...you're early...again."

She sweat-dropped at his words before she recomposed herself, "Forty teams, Ibiki? You must be losing your touch." she said.

"Or maybe we just have a good crop of Genin this year." he retorted.

"Eh, whatever. When I get done with them, there will be less than half of them left." she said, smirking evilly, and a few people shuddered. "Now, follow me to the next part of the exam!" she ordered and jumped out of the window. The Genin blinked owlishly for a moment before they jumped to their feet and followed the crazed woman. After ten minutes, Naruto's team stopped at the entrance of a massive forest.

"What is this place?" Naruto wondered.

"Akamaru doesn't like this place." Kiba said softly as he felt Akamaru shaking in his jacket.

"Okay, everybody, this is Training Ground 44, also know as the Forest of Death!" she announced cheerfully. A few Chunin began to hand out a piece of paper to every Genin there. "Those are death waivers, so that if you die, it doesn't come down on my ass. Here's how the second exam will go: Your team will receive either a Heaven or an Earth Scroll. Your objective is to get whichever scroll your team doesn't have from another team. You have five days to get your scroll and reach the tower in the center of the forest. Anything is allowed, even killing, but you automatically fail if one of your teammates die, you leave the forest's perimeter, or you open the scroll before you reach the tower. Does everyone understand?" she asked, not paying attention to anyone, as everyone handed in their waivers and received their scrolls. "Just one piece of advice...Just Don't Die!"

Naruto took the Earth Scroll and placed it in his ninja pouch. Team 10 followed one of the Chunin to a gate that littered the fence of the Forest of Death. Naruto exchanged glances with his teammates and grinned. He saw that Akamaru was still frightened, so he patted him on his head and grinned at the dog, which the dog responded to and barked, seeming more confident.

Kiba grinned, "He says thanks." Kiba pumped his fists, "Alright, we're gonna rock this test!"

"Troublesome." Shikamaru commented.

"Alright, guys," the Chunin at their gate cut in, "Watch out for the dangers of the forest and be your eyes open for other teams." he said as he unlocked the gate.

"The second exam begins now!" they heard the woman exclaim. The gate swung open and Team 10 raced in, vaguely hearing the Chunin call out to them.

"Have fun." he deadpanned.

The three Konoha Genin immediately jumped into the trees and hopped through the forest on their branches. Ten minutes later, they were standing in a clearing.

"So, what should we do?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Find a team, take them out, get their scroll, go to the tower. Simple." he said casually.

Kiba nodded in agreement, but Shikamaru sighed, "No, Naruto. Not simple. We need a plan."

Naruto looked at him, "Why?"

"Naruto, you can't just beat everything up, sometimes you need a strategy." Shikamaru said.

"We already have a strategy, remember?" Naruto smirked.

Shikamaru snapped his fingers, "Oh, yeah, I forgot." he said and smirked, glancing at the idiot Konoha team that had been following them.

"Shit!" one of them exclaimed as a rather large leech dropped down from higher up in the trees and landed on him. His teammates realized they had been led into a trap and tried to get away, but it was too late as each of them discovered with horror that they, too, had a leech attached to them. The last thing any of them saw before they passed out from blood loss was the smirking face of the short redhead.

Naruto rifled through their pouches and pulled out a scroll, "Alright, they have a heaven scroll!" he exclaimed happily.

"Alright, let's go to the tower." Shikamaru said, happy that this hadn't taken all that long.

"No, let's go get some more scrolls. You know, to thin out the competition." Kiba proposed.

Naruto shook his head, "I agree with Shikamaru. Though I doubt anyone in this competition is as strong as me, we don't want to take any chances. Let's just head to the tower, but," he continued as he saw Kiba about to protest, "if we come across another team on our way there, we'll take them out."

Shikamaru nodded his consent and Kiba reluctantly agreed, "Fine."

"Good, but first..." he trailed off. He turned back to the team they had tricked and killed the leeches that were still sucking their blood. They were still Konoha ninja after all. "Alright, let's go." The other two nodded and they all jumped into the trees to continue on their way to the tower.

"Geez, how far away is this tower." Kiba grumbled. "We've been tree hopping for a fucking hour already!"

"Be quiet, Kiba." Shikamaru groaned, though he inwardly agreed with the Inuzuka. Naruto, who was ahead of them, suddenly came to a stop, glancing around.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Kiba asked. Naruto was staring downward, and his teammates followed his gaze. They saw the team from Suna standing across from one of the team's from Ame. Kiba and Shikamaru watched in horror as the redhead from Suna crushed the three Ame-nin to death with his sand. Akamaru felt the power and blood lust emitting from the boy, and, as a result, hunched back into Kiba's jacket in fear.

Kiba tried to comfort his partner, and shared a fearful glance with Shikamaru, "His sand smells like blood." he whispered, gulping.

Shikamaru sucked in a nervous breath, "We should go. Naruto..." he said, turning to where Naruto was.

Well, where Naruto _should _have been.

Shikamaru's eyes widened and he whipped his head around, looking for his teammate. When he caught sight of him, he choked and resisted the urge to throttle him.

Naruto was walking up to the Suna team.

"Greetings, fellow redhead!" he said loudly to the sand user. His teammates cursed and jumped down behind him.

Kankuro smirked at him, "Look, kid, if you don't want to die, you should leave now."

Naruto puffed his cheeks out, "I wasn't talking to you, cat-suit."

Kankuro got a tick mark on his forehead, "What did you just call me, punk?"

Naruto put his hands on his hips, "I called you cat-suit, because you're wearing a cat-suit."

"Why you little-"

"Stop it, Kankuro! He's just trying to rile you up." his female teammate scolded him. Then, in a quieter voice, she added, "And I told you it looked like a cat-suit."

Kankuro blushed in embarrassment, "S-Shut up, Temari."

"So, you have both scrolls, and I have both scrolls. Why don't we travel to the tower together." he offered with a smile. "Besides, redhead's have got to stick together."

Gaara simply grunted and sent his sand at the boy. However, he was confused when it didn't make contact.

"I'm guessing that's a no, then?" An amused voice said from directly next to Gaara. The Ichibi jinchuriki's teammates snapped their heads to their brother, surprised to see the Konoha ninja standing next to him, his arm casually slung around Gaara's shoulders.

_'Damn, he's fast!' _Temari though, her eyes wide.

_'I-I didn't even see him move!' _Kankuro thought, his mouth open in shock.

Even Gaara's eyes were a little wide, but he quickly composed himself and tried, once again, to encase Naruto in sand. However, much like before, there was no one there when his sand reached the boy. They looked back towards the other redhead's team, and saw that he was standing there again with his teammates grasping his shoulders. They also saw that he and his teammates were slowly disappearing in a flicker of flames.

Naruto grinned at them, "Too bad. It would have been much easier for you if you had taken my offer." he said.

"What is your name?" Gaara asked, barely holding back his blood lust.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Gaara snapped his ice-cold eyes open, and grinned evilly at him, "Mother wants your blood." he declared, causing Naruto's teammates, as well as his own, to swallow in fear.

Naruto, on the other hand, simply grinned, "Come and get it in the next part of the exam." he said, the flames already up to his chest. "By the way," Naruto added as an afterthought as he held up two scrolls, "Thanks for the scrolls!" he laughed and finally disappeared.

They were silent for a few moments before...

"That little bastard stole our scrolls!"

_~At the Tower~_

Naruto and his teammates entered the tower, Naruto laughing but his teammates glaring at him.

"Naruto, that was really stupid!" Kiba yelled.

"Don't do something like that again!" Shikamaru warned.

Naruto rolled his eyes at them, "Come on, I was in no danger."

"No danger?" Kiba exclaimed. "Did you not see what that guy did to those Ame-nin?"

Naruto shrugged, "Yeah, so?"

"So! He crushed them to paste!" Shikamaru butted in.

Naruto crossed his arms, "And what did he use to crush him?" he asked, speaking as though he was talking to a small child.

"Sand. So what?" Kiba answered impatiently.

"Well, what happens when sand is super-heated?" he asked rhetorically.

Shikamaru got what he was hinting at first, "It turns to glass."

Naruto nodded, "Exactly. I was in no danger. My magma would have turned it to glass easily." he said, smiling. Then, he suddenly turned serious, "But if you ever have to fight him, give up. Neither of you are strong enough to beat him." he warned. Shikamaru agreed and Akamaru agreed for Kiba when he saw his partner hesitating. Naruto smiled and turned to the riddle, but Shikamaru spoke before he read it.

"I already read it. We're supposed to open the scrolls." he told them.

Kiba was hesitant, but Naruto trusted Shikamaru's intellect, so he didn't wait to open them like the genius boy instructed. As soon as he saw the summoning seal, he threw them to the ground. There was a puff of smoke, and when it cleared, Asuma was revealed, grinning at them.

"Congratulations, you guys. Not only did you pass the second exam, but you also broke the previous record by over four hours." he said proudly. _'Heh, now Kakashi, Kurenai, and Gai owe me 50 Ryo each.'_

"Hah! See how awesome we are!" Kiba said with a huge grin. The others could practically feel his ego growing.

Asuma chuckled, "Yeah, you guys are strong, but don't get cocky. You guys can enter the main part of the tower for food, and rooms have been provided. See you in five days." he said, and disappeared.

"Damn, he seemed eager to leave." Kiba said, wondering what was up Asuma's ass.

Naruto shrugged, "Eh, who cares. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria. I'm starving." he whined.

"You're always hungry." Shikamaru commented, annoyed.

Naruto tilted his head for a moment before nodding, "True!"

_~Five Days Later~_

Naruto was standing with his team on the floor of a battle arena along with ten other teams, some looking less harried and beat up than others.He was also ignoring the glares the Suna-nin were throwing him.

The Jonin Sensei of every team that had passed the second exam was standing in a row behind the Sandaime Hokage, who stepped forward, "Congratulations to all of you who passed the second exam." he complimented with a smile. "The next part of the exam will occur in one month in the Konoha stadium to allow the Daimyo and Kage of the various countries to arrive here along with any other dignitaries that would like to attend." he told them. Then, he took on a more subdued tone, "Unfortunately, we have too many competitors to allow you all to compete in the final exam, so we will have a preliminary round to weed out those of you who would waste their time." he explained, causing an uproar amongst the Genin.

"What?"

"That's bull!"

"I can't believe this!"

The Hokage waved his hands in order to calm them down, "There will be no discussion on this matter. It is how it must be. Before we continue, is there anyone who wishes to forfeit at this point?" he asked.

Things were silent for a moment, until, "Alright, I give. I'm out of chakra, and my ear is still messed up. I can't continue." Kabuto admitted, raising his hand.

The Hokage nodded, "Very well, you may leave. A Chunin will escort you back to the village."

"Thank you." Kabuto said politely.

"Anyone else?" the old man asked. Seeing no one, he continued, "Now, this exam will be one on one matches. Anything goes in these matches, and they will end when one competitor forfeits, dies, or is rendered unconscious. The proctor will intervene if necessary, however. Now, this board will randomly pick two of you to choose as that match's competitors. Does anyone have any questions?" he asked, and though no one had any questions, many of them still appeared disgruntled. The Sandaime Hokage nodded, and a sickly looking man appeared next to him.

"I am the proctor of the third exam, Gekkō Hayate." the man said through coughs. The board flashed through the names of every Genin there, stopping on two after a few moments.

"**Akadō Yoroi vs Uchiha Sasuke." **

"Whoever had their names called, please remain here. The others, please follow your sensei to the balcony." he instructed. Everyone except for Sasuke and Yoroi did so, the Konoha ninja placing themselves on one side, and the shinobi from the foreign countries on the other. While they were doing so, Hayate reiterated the rules to Yoroi and Sasuke.

"Do you understand these rules?" he asked. They both nodded, so he brought his arm up, "Begin!"

_~End~_

Not a lot of action in the forest, but the preliminaries will be loaded, and probably take a few chapters. Though knowing me, it probably won't. I also already have each match planned out, and I can just hear the complaints some of you will throw out at me at how I have some matches ending. I know some of you don't like how powerful some OCs will be, and I never like how powerful they are, either, but I wanted to do it this way. There will be about seven more chapters of the exams at least, too. Also, Orochimaru will not be a douche bag and disrupt the finals. They will continue to their ending.

So, I was re-watching the Sasuke vs. Danzo fight, and I witnessed something that made me face-palm. It went something like this:

"When all ten Sharingan eyes have closed on your right arm, your jutsu will end, isn't that so?" -Sasuke

"You know about Izanagi?" -Danzo

"As I suspected!" -Sasuke

"You tricked me! What a crafty brat!" -Danzo

…

…

…

Who the **fuck** falls for something like that? I know eight year old kids who wouldn't fall for something like that! Come on, Danzo is some super intelligent, manipulative man, and he falls for that! What the shit!

See ya later.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for all the reviews!

_~Start~_

Kakashi shunshinned down to his student in the battle area as soon as Sasuke was declared the winner of his match, Sakura and Ino gushing over his victory the entire time.

"Come with me, Sasuke. I have to seal that mark up." he said to the boy.

"Come on, can't I at least watch the other matches?" he complained to his sensei, who shook his head.

"No, now grab on to my arm." the Jonin ordered. Sasuke looked annoyed for a moment before following his sensei's orders. The two disappeared and the electric board started running through names again.

"That wasn't so impressive." Kiba said.

Shikamaru's eyes were narrowed, "It seemed like there was something wrong with him."

Naruto shrugged, "Eh, it doesn't matter. He made it into the finals, and if something was wrong with him, I wonder what kind of challenge he would pose at full power." he said, grinning.

Asuma, who was standing behind them, chuckled, "Are you worried about him, Naruto?"

Naruto laughed loudly, "Oh, no! I'd kick his ass easily!"

"Yeah, probably." Shikamaru said, turning his gaze to the board, "Anyway, you might want to take a look at the board, Kiba."

"Huh?" Kiba blinked, turning his eyes to the board.

**Inuzuka Kiba vs. Karui**

Kiba grew a feral grin and jumped down to the battled area, "Alright, it's our turn now, Akamaru." the puppy barked in response.

"It's your turn to lose, Konoha dog." Kiba's opponent said as she walked down the stairs to the arena. Karui is dark-skinned with long red hair and amber eyes. She was wearing a long, short-sleeved dress with frilly edges, two simple yellow earrings, fishnet stockings, thigh-high boots with white soles and a forehead protector which she wears like a bandanna. She also had a long katana on her back.

Kiba growled, "What did you call me, Kumo whore?"

Karui scowled, "I'll kill you for that!" she yelled.

"We'll see about that, right Akamaru?" he said, crouching down on all fours, Akamaru jumping down next to him in a ready stance.

Karui smirked, "You shouldn't bring your pet into a battle." she said snidely.

"Akamaru's not a pet!" he declared. "He's my partner!"

She took the sword off of her back, "Well, we'll see how much use it is in a battle." she sneered.

Hayate coughed, "Are both competitors ready?" he asked. Kiba and Karui nodded, so he brought his arm down, "Begin!"

"**Shikyaku no Jutsu!(Four Legs Technique!)" **Kiba declared. Chakra enveloped the Inuzuka and changes to his body began. His canine teeth lengthened, his finger and toenails grew to claw-like length, and his eyes also become more wild with his pupils becoming slits. Akamaru jumped back onto Kiba's back, **"Jūjin Bunshin!(Beast Human Clone!)" **A puff of smoke later, and there was a perfect copy of Kiba on top of the real Kiba's back. "Alright, let's go, Akamaru! **Gatsūga!(Fang Passing Fang!)" **

Kiba and the Kiba look-a-like shot off at high speeds towards Karui, spinning rapidly like a tornado. They quickly approached Karui, who was barely able to dodge, causing the two to rip through the stone ground with no harm to them. The girl whirled around, suddenly more serious.

_'He's faster than I thought.' _she mused, readying her katana as the two tornadoes turned and rushed back at her.

She was ready this time, however, as she dodged the first cyclone and raised her sword to defend against the second. As it made contact, a clanging sound filled the room and sparks flew from the point of contact. Karui yelled in exertion and thrust her sword upwards, sending the Kiba that was attacking her to the ceiling.

The Kiba that she sent flying was able to stop spinning and flip through the air, landing on the ground with the other Kiba landing next to him. When they looked back at their opponent, they saw that she was going through several hand seals.

"**Raiton: Raikyū!(Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!)"**

A small orb of lightning erupted from the Kumo kunoichi's hands, speeding towards the two Kiba, who were able to dodge the relatively small attack. Before the real Kiba could blink, Karui was in front of him, her sword in mid-swing.

Using his animal reflexes, Kiba was able to dodge her attempt to strike him, and, in response, he lashed out with one of his claws, which she deflected away using the broad side of her katana. She quickly jumped back as a cyclone passed through the area she was just previously standing.

_'Okay, those cyclones are extremely dangerous and can do a lot of damage if I'm hit, so I can't afford to let that happen. Separating them won't work, so I'll have to take them out at the same time.' _she decided. She thought for a few seconds before coming up with a plan, _'That'll probably work. After all, he's just a Konoha ninja.'_

_'Damn, she's pretty fast to be able to dodge my attacks, and that sword must be made of really strong metal to be able to stand up to one of my attacks.' _he thought, frowning. After a moment, he shook his head, _'Whatever, she can't dodge me forever!'_

Karui made a few hand seals, **"Raiton: ****Raigen Raikōchū!(Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning Pillar!)"**

As soon as she called out her technique, an extremely bright electrical light seemed to emanate from her, blinding both of the Kibas.

"Ugh! My eyes!" Kiba cried out in pain. He could still smell where she was and so prepared to jump away. However, before he could, Karui called out another technique.

"**Raiton: Denpō Sekka!(Lightning Release: Telegram Flash!)"**

Although Kiba couldn't see it, Karui slammed both of her hands onto the ground. Lightning erupted from both of her hands and traveled along the ground to both of the Kiba, which proceeded to electrocute the two.

Because she had moved to slam her hands onto the ground, her genjutsu had dispelled and Kiba was just getting his eyesight back. The first thing he saw made his blood run cold.

Karui had appeared in front of Akamaru in a burst of speed, and called out, **"Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri!(Cloud-Style Front Beheading!)**

She swung her katana to decapitate the Kiba in front of her, but the disguised dog was able to jump up slightly to avoid death, but was still dealt a deep gash across his chest, causing him to revert back to his dog form, his blood staining his white fur.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried out in horror, running over to his partner. He took a swipe at the Kumo kunoichi, which she easily dodged. Instead of pursuing her further, he crouched down next to his incapacitated partner, and canceled out his 'Shikyaku no Jutsu'. "Akamaru? Are you all right, buddy?" he asked softly.

The dog gave a weak whimper of pain, blood steadily oozing from his wound. Kiba tore a portion of his sleeve from his jacket and wrapped it around the dog's wound, momentarily stopping the blood flow. He turned and glared fiercely at the Kumo girl, who smirked back at him.

"Why don't you just give up now?" she suggested haughtily. "You can't beat me without that dog, and if you don't get it medical attention soon, it could die."

Kiba growled and clenched his fists as he realized that she was right. _'Well, I could probably beat her if I use my Devil Fruit powers, but Naruto told me not to use it. Dammit!' _Kiba let out a growl of pure frustration as he realized there was nothing he could do. His shoulders slumped and he slowly raised his hand, using his other hand to hold Akamaru.

"Fine. Proctor, I forfei-"

"NO!"

Everyone stopped and turned to the source of that shout. It was Naruto. He was leaning over the railing, leveling Kiba with a serious look.

"Naruto, what?" Kiba asked in confusion.

Naruto sighed, "Kiba, I know how much these exams mean to you, and I know you want to get back at her for hurting Akamaru, so I can't be selfish and tell you not to use..._that._" he said softly.

Kiba bit his lip, "But I thought you said people would start asking questions if I showed it off." he retorted.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but like I said before, I can't be selfish and ask you to give up your chance to become a Chūnin right now just for my sake." he retorted.

Meanwhile, everyone was wondering what the hell they were talking about. Kakashi-who had returned from wherever he took Sasuke, who had not come back with him-voiced this.

Asuma turned to his friend, a cigarette in his mouth and a slight smirk on his lips, "Sorry, Kakashi, but I can't tell you."

Kakashi frowned, "Why not?"

Asuma shrugged, "Promised Naruto."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes but turned away, looking back to the arena.

"Are you sure?" Kiba asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it. And why don't you toss Akamaru to me, I'll take care of him." he added.

Kiba was still for a moment before he started slowly nodding. He cradled his partner, and gently tossed him up to Naruto, who deftly caught him.

"Hey!" Karui interrupted. "Isn't that outside interference?" she demanded, turning to the proctor.

Hayate coughed, considering her question. Before he could say anything, Asuma answered for him, "Actually, ninken are considered tools, so you can do whatever you want with them. Tossing a 'tool' to someone else in a match like this is not illegal." he explained.

Hayate coughed again, "He is correct. It is not illegal to toss a tool to someone outside of the match."

"Stupid Konoha dogs." she grumbled.

Kiba turned back to his opponent and took a deep breath, leveling Karui with a hard look, "You're going down." he declared seriously.

Karui smirked, "What makes you think you can take me down by yourself when you couldn't even do that with your pet?" she sneered.

Kiba smirked back at her, "Oh, you'll see."

Karui took on a look of rage, "Grr! I'm so sick of you Konoha dogs thinking you're the greatest thing around! I'll show you!" she screamed and charged forward, raising her sword.

As she neared him, she brought her sword down on him vertically, and he simply raised his right arm in an attempt to block it.

"Is he stupid?" Sakura exclaimed in worry.

"He'll lose his arm!" Ino bellowed, equally worried.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Chōji called out, walking up to his best friend. "Why is Kiba just standing there? He could lose his arm!"

Shikamaru simply smirked back at him, and Chōji noticed that Asuma and Naruto had smirks on their faces, too.

"Just watch." Shikamaru retorted, still smirking.

The Konoha ninja-bar Team 10-were looking on in absolute worry as Karui's sword made contact with Kiba's arm, but were left confused as it failed to cut through and a clanging sound erupted in the room.

"W-What the Hell?!" the red-haired Kumo kunoichi cried out, her eyes wide.

Team 10's smirks grew as everyone looked closer at where Karui's katana had made contact with Kiba's arm. Everyone's eyes widened when they saw that Kiba's arm wasn't exactly an arm anymore.

Along the edge of Kiba's forearm was a gray, sharp-looking blade.

"What is that?" Naruto heard Chōji whisper in shock.

"Asuma, what's going on?" Kakashi asked his friend, his Sharingan eye open to observe what was happening.

"I can't tell you, just watch." Asuma replied to the silver haired Jonin's annoyance.

"Neji!" Lee cried, turning to his teammate.

"I'm on it!" The Hyūga replied, making a few hand seals and activating his Byakugan. What he saw shocked him. "H-How is he doing this?" he whispered, astonished.

"What is it, Neji?" his female teammate, Tenten, inquired, not used to seeing Neji lose his composure.

"That blade. He's obviously using a technique to turn his arm into a blade, but it's using no chakra at all." he said, totally and entirely flabbergasted.

"What? That is impossible!" Lee cried incredulously. If there was a technique that didn't take any chakra, then he would know about it!

"H-He's r-right." Hinata stuttered from next to him, her own Byakugan activated. Usually, she would be extremely nervous about standing so close to her cousin, but she was too surprised to care right now. The only thing that had shocked her more in recent memory was when...

Hinata's eyes widened and she turned to Naruto-whose team was standing on the other side of hers-and opened her mouth, "N-Naruto, that's l-lik-"

"Shh!" Naruto cried, covering her mouth with his hand. His eyes shifted from side to side, and he leaned closer to the girl, "Don't give me away, alright?" Hinata nodded and Naruto took his hand away from her mouth.

As Naruto turned back, he noticed the Sandaime Hokage shooting a knowing look at him. In response, Naruto simply mouthed 'fruit' at him, and the Hokage nodded in understanding.

On the other side of the arena, the Kumo-nin were confused and shocked as well, "What is going on? Do you know anything about this, Yugito?" the blond female genin, Samui, asked the older blond woman, who looked to be about 26 years of age.

The rather attractive woman shook his head, "No, I've never heard of a Konoha-nin that is able to do something like this." she replied. _'Raikage-sama will want to know about this.' _If you're wondering why Samui didn't refer to Yugito as 'sensei', it's because she wasn't their sensei. Their sensei was a man named Killer Bee, but he wasn't allowed out of the village, so the Raikage sent Yugito in his place.

Back in the arena, Karui jumped back to avoid a swipe from the Inuzuka's _metal_ claws. She was shocked, however, when she noticed four gashes on her shirt that were steadily oozing blood.

_'What the hell? I know I dodged that!' _she thought angrily. "How the hell are you doing this?" she demanded.

Kiba smirked back at her, "Wouldn't you like to know?" he taunted, both of his arms morphed into blades along with the inside of his fingers.

"I'll make you tell me as I cut your balls off!" Karui snarled at him, charging towards him.

She swung her sword down on him, but he simply grabbed it with his left hand and pulled, sending her off balance. Using his other 'claw' he slashed her across the chest, creating four deep gashed across her chest that gushed copious amounts of blood. Karui cried out in pain but was given no rest as her legs were kicked out from under her and she was kicked across the arena into the giant statue. She looked up, her consciousness fading due to blood loss, and saw Kiba staring down on her coldly. The blades on his arms were gone, but his finger blades were still there. The Inuzuka swiftly crouched down and crossed his arms, causing a large amount of blood to spurt from the kunoichi's torso.

"**Spar Break!" **he announced as the girl fell unconscious. He took one last look at her before he turned around and headed back to his team.

Hayate coughed, "Winner: Inuzuka Kiba." he announced.

His teammates cheered, but everyone else was too shocked to do anything.

"Great job, Kiba!" Naruto congratulated. "If you keep working on mastering those abilities, those gashes will be even deeper."

Everyone who heard what he said furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, and took a closer look at the statue as the medics took Karui away. Most of them grew shocked as they finally noticed the long, deep gashes on the stone statue.

_'Does this mean he doesn't even have to physically strike the target to injure them?' _Kurenai wondered.

_'Those blades are sharp. Lee would have a tough time with him.' _Gai deduced, surprisingly serious.

_'The Inuzuka's stronger than I first believed.' _Kakashi admitted in his mind.

"Thanks, guys. How's Akamaru?" he asked quickly.

Naruto was still holding the small, white dog, "Oh, he'll be fine, but you should probably take him to a veterinarian as soon as the preliminaries finish." Naruto suggested, petting the sleeping dog.

Kiba nodded, gently taking his partner from Naruto, "I will. My sister's an awesome vet, and she knows Akamaru, so she can take care of him." he said.

"That's good." Naruto replied.

"Good job, Kiba." Asuma congratulated, smiling proudly.

"Thanks, sensei." he replied, not really listening as he continued fussing over Akamaru.

"And I'm sure my other two students will do just as well."

Naruto smirked, "Of course. Is there really any doubt?"

"Troublesome."

Their conversation was cut off as they heard the board come to another stop.

**Kankurō vs. Takimaru**

The two competitors, one from Sunagakure, and the other from Takigakure, wasted no time in walking down from the balcony to the arena. The one from Suna, Kankurō, was a relatively tall boy around 14 or 15 years old. Kankurō was wearing a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He was also wearing a black hood, sporting had cat-like ears, which covered his head completely, and his Suna hitai-ate on his forehead. He also had a large, bandaged object on his back.

Across from him stood Takimaru. The boy looked around 12 years old, but he was standing at a tall 5'5". He had short, dark blue hair, and bored looking green eyes along with a mask covering his face from just under his eyes down to his neck, and tan skin. He was wearing a loose, black/dark blue cloak that covered his form completely, but you could see the black ANBU-style pants stopping just short of his ankles, and blue open-toed boots.

Kankurō was smirking condescendingly at Takimaru, "Ready to lose kid?"

"Whatever." he replied lazily.

"Are you both ready?" Hayate asked. They both nodded. "Begin!"

Takimaru wasted no time and immediately charged towards Kankurō. He raised his fist and punched Kankurō in his face. The Taki-nin narrowed his eyes and jumped back just as a wooden hand burst out of 'Kankurō's' outfit. The Suna-nin's skin flaked off, revealing it to be a puppet. It resembled a three-eyed, four-armed humanoid with jagged teeth and spiky brown hairstyle protruding from the top of its head and framing the sides. The bandaged object on its back unraveled, revealing the real Kankurō, who was smirking.

"Figured it out, eh?" the Suna-nin asked rhetorically, not at all concerned.

The Taki-nin rolled his eyes, "Of course. No person's skin feels like that, and the hollow sound it made when I punched it kind of tipped me off." he said with sarcasm lacing his voice.

Kankurō raised his hand, and the other ninja in the room were able to just make out the chakra strings extending from his fingers to the puppet. The Kazekage's first son smirked, "Doesn't matter, you'll still lose."

Takimaru cocked an eyebrow, "Oh? And why's that?"

"Because you're just from some pathetic minor village with no talent, while I'm from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages." Kankurō said with condescension.

Takimaru scoffed, "So what. Just because you're from one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages doesn't mean you're stronger than someone who's from a minor village. Besides, you're just from Sunagakure." he said.

Kankurō frowned, "And what's that supposed to mean?" he asked suspiciously.

The blue haired boy crossed his arms, "Everyone knows Suna is the weakest of the Five Great Nations. The only reason you are is because of your territorial advantage. Hell, even Kiri, which has been in a savage and bloody civil war up until a few years ago, is still militarily more powerful than your village." he intoned, making the other boy growl, and causing his sensei and sister narrow their eyes.

"What did you just say, punk?" Kankurō whispered, a tone of warning in his voice.

"The truth." the boy replied, not deviating from his bored tone.

Kankurō glared at the other boy, "You're gonna die, kid."

"Doubt it." Takimaru replied. "I'm your worst possible match."

"What makes you say that?" the Suna-nin questioned warily.

Takimaru huffed, "I'll show you." he said and made the 'Snake' handsign. **"Doton: Domu!(Earth Release: Earth Spear!)" **As soon as the boy called out his technique, his skin turned several shades darker, hardening his skin tremendously. The boy then pulled off his cloak, revealing his bare torso. The other ninja in the room grimaced at the sight of the boy's body. His torso, including his back and arms, were covered in stitches, giving him the appearance of being sewn together. Two masks, one with an avian, but demonic design with yellow highlights and the other with a demonic snake design with blue highlights, were also embedded in his upper back.

"What is he?" Sakura questioned, disgusted.

"I know what this is." The Sandaime's old but strong voice said. Every eye turned to the renowned Sandaime Hokage, who had a cold look on his face.

"What is it, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, his Sharingan eye narrowed.

The old Sandaime took a deep breath, "I don't know everything about it, but it is known as **Jiongu(Earth Grudge Fear)**." he said. "From what I know, it is a kinjutsu from Takigakure that allows the user to replace much of their body, such as bones or internal organs with extremely powerful threads. It allows him to detach parts of his body and use the threads for attack and defense." he said, frowning.

"That's gruesome." Ino said, looking physically ill.

"I've heard of it." The Oto Jonin, Orochimaru-though no one else knew that because he was in disguise-said, "But I thought it was forbidden to use."

"It was." Takimaru interrupted, "But the council of the village decided that the Taki needed more powerful shinobi, and this kinjutsu was chosen for that purpose. Many people were imbued with Jiongu, but many of them died immediately, and the ones who survived passed not soon after. I was the only one to survive." he revealed, still sounding bored, albeit he had a softer tone of voice.

"Nice story, but that still doesn't mean you can beat me." Kankurō declared.

Takimaru's masked quirked a little around his face mask, indicating that he was smirking, "The Hokage's explanation did reveal the general ability of the Jiongu, but it didn't tell you everything." he said. He then bent over and grunted, apparently bracing himself. He grunted as the masks pushed out of his back and settled as ten foot tall creatures composed of threads, the masks on their 'heads'. Without warning, the blue mask opened its mouth and shot a bullet of water at the Suna-nin.

Kankurō's eyes widened and he jumped to the side, avoiding the water bullet. He then had to duck a punch from Takimaru, who punched the ground instead, causing him to easily bash through the stone floor due to his Earth technique. The Suna-nin readied his puppet to attack, but narrowed his eyes as the boy jumped away. He realized why when he heard something moving behind him.

He glanced behind him, and saw the yellow masked creature open its mouth and released a wave of electricity, which quickly sped towards Kankurō, easily ripping through the stone floor. When it hit the Suna-nin, it was revealed that he had replaced himself with a piece of stone.

Takimaru swiftly turned around as he heard something making a clacking sound near him. He turned around just in time to see Kankurō's puppet reveal hidden wrist blades-which were obviously coated with a deadly poison-plunge into his chest.

Well, they would have, if they hadn't broken off as soon as they had made contact with the Taki-nin's chest, leaving no visible damage at all.

"W-What?" Kankurō stuttered.

"That's what I meant when I said I was your worst possible opponent." Takimaru said, laughing. "My Doton: Domu hardens my skin immensely. Once I master this technique, my skin will be able to gain the hardness of diamonds," he explained.

Kankurō growled, "I can still win!" he declared, pulling his puppet back to him.

"I don't think so!" Takimaru yelled, raising his open hand. He thrust his hand forward, which detached from his wrist, but was still connected to his arm by several threads. It grabbed onto Crow, Kankurō's puppet, and several threads extended from it, wrapping around the puppet. Takimaru pulled the puppet back to him and started crushing it, but the wood was stronger than it looked.

"I won't lose!" Kankurō yelled desperately.

"Too late." the blue haired boy said coldly, pointing behind the Kazekage's son.

_'What is he...?" _he thought before his eyes widened, and whipping his head around. _'Those masked creatures!' _he realized.

The two masked creatures had combined into one, their mouth open wide. Out of its mouth came a large electrified water dragon, which sped towards Kankurō at such an extremely high speed that he had no hope of dodging. When it hit the Suna-nin, it exploded in a giant wave of electrified water. When Kankurō was revealed, he was out cold.

Hayate coughed, "Winner: Takimaru."

Said boy sighed, and the masked creatures returned to his back. Takimaru reattached his hand, and dropped the slightly crushed puppet as the medic nins left with it and Kankurō. He picked up his cloak, and tossed it back on, walking back to his team while avoiding the disgusted look every other genin were shooting him. He was so sick of everyone looking at him like that.

"Hey!" a voice called out. The Taki genin looked over to the owner of the voice, the redheaded teammate of the Inuzuka. He was beaming at him. "Great match! Your awesomely strong!" he shouted cheerfully.

Takimaru blinked. Usually, when people saw his abilities, they kept their distance and barely held back a disgusted look on their faces when they had to talk to him. They didn't go out of their way to be rude or cruel to him, but they seemed to avoid him at all costs. And yet, this boy didn't look grossed out at all. In fact, he looked excited. He had to admit, being talked to like a normal person felt...nice.

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever." he replied, but he knew the Konoha genin could see the gratitude in his voice. He walked past the Kumo team, who were staring at him with a calculating and wary look on their faces, and reached his team.

"Good job, Takimaru." his sensei, a nondescript looking man in Jonin attire said with a strained smile on his face.

"Thanks, Iko-sensei." he replied insincerely.

"Yeah, uh, you did great." his teammate, Shibuki, said nervously.

"Yeah, I guess you did alright, Stitches." Takimaru's other teammate, Fū, commented with an upbeat tone of voice.

"You better win, too." he told her seriously.

She scoffed, "Oh, please. I doubt there's a person her who could beat me." she said smirking.

"It's too early to say that, Fū. There are still a lot of Genin left, after all." he retorted. She simply smirked wider in response.

_~With the Suna Team~_

"I can't believe Kankurō lost so easily." Temari whispered in shock.

"That boy is strong, and dangerous." their sensei, Baki, commented. He turned to his...unstable student, "Gaara, if you fight him, kill him." he ordered quietly.

Gaara would usually not stand for being ordered to do something, but he wanted to kill the boy himself, so he simply agreed with a nod of his head.

_~With Team 10~_

"Damn, that guy's strong." Kiba said, petting the still sleeping Akamaru.

Naruto grinned, "Yeah, I can't wait to fight him!" he said enthusiastically.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "Why do you like fighting strong people so much, Naruto? It's such a drag."

Naruto looked at him with a grin, "It's fun!" he declared. "Now, shut up, another match is starting." he said, looking towards the board.

**Tsurugi Misumi vs. Samui**

Yugito leaned down to her temporary student, "Don't lose." she ordered. Samui nodded and walked down the stairs, while an older Konoha-nin walked down the other.

The Konoha Genin seemed to be in his early twenties, and the Kumo kunoichi appeared to be around twelve years of age.

Samui is a fair-skinned, rather tall girl who was wearing a stoic, aloof expression on her face. She has blue eyes and straight, blonde hair framing her face cut in an asymmetrical bob style with the front bangs reaching her shoulders. She was wearing a very low-cut outfit, with mesh armor underneath, a short skirt and red hand guards, and high, open-toed boots. She also has a tantō strapped horizontally to her lower back.

Across from her stood Misumi. He was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth that hung to around his neck and a Konoha hitai-ate, which he wore like a bandanna. He also wore what appeared to be the standard attire of his team, consisting of a high-collared, sleeveless, navy-blue shirt with a short-sleeved, white one underneath, a simple obi around his waist, pants, sandals and fingerless gloves, along with a pair of round framed glasses.

"Are you both ready?" he asked, receiving two nods in return. "Begin!"

Samui immediately drew her tantō and ran towards the Konoha-nin at a decent speed. She swung her tantō to remove Misumi's head, but narrowed her eyes as he bent back unnaturally. She didn't let it show on her face, but she was surprised when one of his arms extended and wrapped around her still outstretched arm. Displaying surprising strength, Misumi pulled the smaller girl towards him and wrapped his other arm around her torso a few times, crushing the life out of the girl.

"Give up." Misumi's said smugly. "You can't escape from this, and if you don't forfeit, I'll kill you."

Unfortunately, Misumi made a crucial mistake when he left one of her arms free, which she pointed into the air.

"**Raiton: Hiraishin!(Lightning Release: Lightning Rod!)"**

A large bolt of lightning generated from her raised arm, traveling through her body and to Misumi's, electrocuting him. As he screamed in pain, Samui slipped away from him and channeled lightning chakra through her tantō, increasing its sharpness immensely. She swiftly turned and struck, lopping his head off.

"Winner by death: Samui." Hayate called, slightly hesitating at the death of a Konoha ninja.

"Not cool." was all she said as she returned to her team, Yugito giving her a proud smile, and Omoi giving her a congratulatory nod.

The senseis of the Konoha ninja were trying to comfort their students at the fact that they had just witnessed a comrade die.

"Sakura, Ino, Hinata. This is what you'll have to go through later in your careers. It's an unfortunate, but necessary part of being a shinobi." Kurenai comforted her students.

Everyone else was dealing with it a lot better than the three girls, Naruto simply giving a respectful nod as the corpse was carried out by the medics.

"The next match will begin shortly." Hayate said through coughs, gesturing to the board, which soon stopped on two names.

**Chōjūrō vs. Akatsuchi**

_~End~_

Four matches down, twelve more to go.

So, it's the general consensus that Akamaru should not die, and should, in fact, be given a Devil Fruit. So, I guess he will. I'm thinking, along with someone else's suggestion, that he get the Toge Toge no Mi. I think that would work quite well.

You know, there are a lot of Devil Fruits I want to use, but don't know if I should give them to other Konoha ninja, and if I do, which ones. I don't want everyone to freak out if others get fruits like Team 10, like they did a couple chapters back. And I won't give Sasuke a Devil Fruit. I know I would lose all of you if I did. (Though I do think it'd be kind of funny to give him the Mera Mera no Mi, and him be all like:

"Hahahaha, I can beat anyone now!-Sasuke.

"Magma Fist, Bitch!"-Naruto.

"Goddamit!"-Sasuke.)

Though I won't really do that. There are a lot of fruits I want to use, but some are just too powerful for other people to use.(I have limits, too.) Like, for example, when I first thought of this story, Naruto was on Team 7 and he was going to give Kakashi the Goro Goro no Mi. Then, I looked back on it, and I'm like: That's too powerful for someone to have. But some other people can do awesome things with certain fruits. Think about the Hana Hana no Mi in Tsunade's hands, and can you seriously not guess who I'm going to give the Suna Suna no Mi to?

Another thing I found annoying in the English Dub of Naruto, is that they refer to Iwagakure as the Hidden Stone Village. It's not 'Stone', it's 'Rock'. I know it's nothing big, but still. And if you're wondering why I bother watching it in English, it's because I like not having to watch the bottom two inches of the screen to know what they're saying.

I'm also wondering something. If Kakuzu fought the Shodaime Hokage, how is he still alive? He's obviously nowhere near the Shodai's level. I think it's because Kishi pulled his and Madara's strength out of his ass. I usually don't say things like that. I usually believe he has everything generally planned out, but I think Madara's strength was a last minute thing. I think he did that because he had no one to take care of the Five Kage, so he decided to just make Madara overpowered. Don't get me wrong, I like how strong he is, but it just seems cheap. I liked it better when every high level ninja was bsically on the same level, and two from seventy years before weren't just better than everyone.

Also, did you know that Masashi Kishimoto has never actually completely confirmed Fū's gender to be female? I didn't know that, but it's apparently true. I guess everyone just assumed she was a girl, and so did I. It'd be too weird to think of her as a boy now, so I'll stick with that even if Kishi makes her a boy.

See ya later.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for all the reviews...

...But only sixteen? I usually don't ask for reviews, but they are nice to have...

_~Start~_

Two people were standing across from each other, one from Kirigakure, and the other from Iwagakure.

The one from Iwa, Akatsuchi, was a large man with dark eyes and hair that spiked out at the back from underneath his Iwa hitai-ate, which he was wearing like a bandanna. He also had big cheeks and a ,plump nose. He was also wearing the red Iwagakure uniform which had both of its sleeves, and a yellow scarf that adorns his neck.

The one from Kiri, Chōjūrō, has short, tufty blue hair, and dark eyes. He also had pointed, shark-like teeth; a trait that all known members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist as well as apprentices share. He was wearing square, black-rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, a blue pin-striped shirt and camouflage pattern pants. Also, he was wearing his hitai-ate on the front of his holster which he uses to carry the large, double-hilted, bandaged object on his back. He also has shuriken holsters strapped onto each of his legs.

"Are you both ready?" the proctor asked through coughs. He continued after he got two nods, "Begin!"

Akatsuchi made two handsigns, **"****Doton: Kengan no Jutsu!(Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique!)" **After he called out his technique, rock encased both of his hands, increasing the power of his punches.

Chōjūrō made a single handsign, **"****Suiton: Teppōdama!(Water Release: Gunshot!)" **Several large spheres of water shot out of his mouth towards Akatsuchi, who opened his mouth in response.

"**Doton: Gōremu no Jutsu!(Earth Release: Strong Servant Warrior Technique!)"**

Akatsuchi spat out a large, humanoid creature composed of rock. The creature held up its arms and easily blocked the water bullets due to Earth's elemental advantage over Water. After it did so, it continued crawling out of Akatsuchi's mouth until it was standing on its own two feet. The golem roared and charged towards the Kiri genin at a surprisingly high speed. Chōjūrō gulped and jumped away just as the golem tried to punch him. He then had to duck as Akatsuchi's rock fist passed over his head. He rolled out of the way as the Iwa-nin's other rock fist came flying towards him.

Chōjūrō saw the rock golem rushing towards him, and decided it was time to go on the offensive. He grabbed both hilts and pulled the bandaged object off of his back.

"**Hiramekarei Kaihō!(Hiramekarei Unleashing!)" **he cried.

The bandages on the object quickly unraveled as a large amount of chakra poured out of the two holes at the top of the weapon, which took the shape of a flounder fish with a wide, flat blade with two curved indentations near its base, creating a sort of cross-guard. The chakra surrounding the sword took the shape of an oversized hammer, which Chōjūrō swung at the golem, causing it to shatter into several chunks of rock.

The blue-haired boy glanced over his shoulder at Akatsuchi, who was charging towards him with both of his rock fists cocked back. Chōjūrō quickly swung his sword, still shaped as a hammer, at the other boy, who had no time to dodge and was hit full-force by the legendary weapon. Akatsuchi was sent flying into the wall, where his body broke into several pieces of rock.

Chōjūrō's eyes widened in realization, but had no time to react as Akatsuchi rose from the ground below him and landed an Earth-shattering punch to the Kiri-nin's stomach, causing Chōjūrō to gasp and cough up blood. Chōjūrō collapsed to the ground, gasping in pain. Akatsuchi jumped high into the air, his fists pointed downward towards Chōjūrō.

"**Doton: Kajūgan no Jutsu!(Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!)" **

Akatsuchi increased the weight of his rock fists immensely and rocketed down to Chōjūrō at high speeds. When he made contact, the ground around him shattered due to the force and weight of his attack. Akatsuchi thought it was over, but his eyes widened as Chōjūrō's body reverted back into water. Akatsuchi tried to jump away, but was too slow due to the weight of his rock fists, and the water surrounded him in the shape of a sphere.

"**Suirō no Jutsu!(Water Prison Technique!)" **a soft, shy voice said from behind the Iwa genin. Akatsuchi turned his head, straining to move because of Chōjūrō's technique, and saw the other boy standing behind him with one hand in the sphere of water.

Chōjūrō blinked, "Um, you can't move anymore, and you, um, can't escape either." he said, and turned to the proctor, "I think that, um, I win."

The proctor coughed and agreed, "Winner: Chōjūrō." he announced.

Chōjūrō smiled shyly and canceled his technique, releasing the disappointed and ashamed Akatsuchi. "Um, good match." the blue haired boy said awkwardly, holding his hand out.

Akatsuchi looked up at the Kiri-nin's hand and stood up. He grasped the other boy's hand and shook it, "Thanks, you too!" he responded jovially.

They both smiled at each other and walked back up to the balcony, passing the Kumo and Taki team. The Iwa team and Kiri team were standing next to each other, and as soon as they reached them, the female Iwa-nin marched up to Akatsuchi.

"You damn fatass! I can't believe you lost!" she yelled at him. Her tone of voice seemed to terrify Chōjūrō as he shrunk down and scuttled past her, reaching the safety of his team.

His sensei grinned at him, showing her shark-like teeth, "Good job, Chōjūrō." she congratulated.

He jumped a little, "Um, thanks, Ameyuri-sensei." he responded shyly, not expecting the praise.

His female teammate growled, "Stop acting so weak, dammit!" she yelled at him.

He shrunk down even more, "I'm sorry, Asamoya." he said quietly.

"Oh, leave him alone, Asamoya." Chōjūrō's other teammate, Yūgiri, told the girl, rolling his eyes. "He's stronger than you, remember?"

Her face turned red and she whirled around, "He is not! He just got lucky that one time!" she claimed. Her sensei and Yūgiri simply laughed at her.

Over with the Iwa team, Akatsuchi was still getting yelled at by his female teammate. Their sensei, a large, blocky man stepped between them.

"Alright, that's enough, Kurotsuchi." he said gruffly.

"But dad! He lost to some Kiri trash!" she cried indignantly, much to the Kiri team's annoyance.

"Calm down, Kurotsuchi." he ordered his daughter. He hated she got like this. "Just because someone is from another village doesn't mean their weaker. Besides, I'm sure you and Mūmaru will more than make up for this loss."

She huffed, but didn't say anything else, other than turning her gaze to her bandage covered teammate, "You had better win." she warned.

Mūmaru pointedly ignored her.

"Would the next contestants please report to the arena?" the proctor, Hayate, called through coughs. The Iwa team looked up to the electronic board.

**Sabaku no Gaara vs. Kinuta Dosu**

Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand, only to reappear across from Dosu, who had jumped down from the opposite balacony.

Gaara is a little shorter than the average males of his age. He has fair skin and short, spiky, auburn hair, and green eyes, but no distinctive eyebrows. He also has two very notable traits in his appearance. Firstly, he has tanuki-like black rings around his eyes. Secondly, he has the kanji for 'love' on the left side of his forehead. Gaara's forelocks are parted from the left side, making the kanji more visible. Gaara was wearing a black full body suit with t-shirt-like sleeves, ¾-length legs, and an open neck. With this, he was wearing a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips, and a wide leather band system over the left shoulder and right side of his hips. With this leather band, he carried around a giant gourd. He also wrapped his black hitai-ate over the band.

Across from him stood one of the sound ninja, Dosu. Dosu had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered. He was also wearing a large poncho with long sleeves, a snake patterned scarf around his neck, a straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf, and a large amplifier on his right arm. His back was hunched, which made him look smaller than he actually was.

"Are both of you ready?" Hayate asked. As usual, both competitors nodded, so he continued, "Begin!"

As soon as Hayate began the match, sand poured out of the giant gourd on Gaara's back. Across from him, Dosu pulled up one of his sleeves, revealing his Melody Arm. Dosu ran forward and tried to punch Gaara, but failed as a wall of sand erupted in front of the redheaded boy, blocking the punch. Dosu wasn't done, however, as he flicked his melody arm, sending out sound waves that dispersed the sand, surprising Gaara.

"**Kyōmeisen!(Resonating Echo Drill!)"**

After the sand was dispersed, Dosu took a step forward and punched Gaara in the face. However, the Gaara in front of him reverted to sand, which crawled up his still extended left arm. Dosu tried to jump away, but something was holding on to his legs. He looked down and, to his horror, found that sand had encased his legs. More sand quickly encased the rest of his body, immobilizing the Oto-nin completely.

**"Sabaku Kyū!(Sand Binding Coffin!)" **A raspy voice announced from behind Dosu. Gaara then clenched his fist before Hayate could stop the match, **"Sabaku Sōsō!(Sand Waterfall Funeral!)" **The sand encasing the Oto-nin imploded, killing the boy and sending his blood in all directions.

"Disappointing." Gaara said coldly, turning and walking back up to his team. Unlike other teams, Gaara's team didn't congratulate him. Dosu's team didn't seem all that upset over their teammate's death, either.

Naruto and the Konoha Genin grimaced, the weaker willed ones looking green.

"Just like in the forest." Kiba whispered. Naruto and Shikamaru nodded, but Asuma raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We ran into Gaara's team when we were traveling through the Forest of Death just after he had killed a team from Ame." Naruto told him.

"What happened?" Asuma asked, curious. He grew confused as Naruto grinned and Kiba and Shikamaru glared at him.

"This idiot walked right up to them, stole their scrolls, and taunted them the entire time." Shikamaru said in annoyance.

Asuma chuckled and patted Naruto on the back, "That's my student!" Naruto grinned smugly at the praise. They heard the board come to yet another stop and looked over.

**Akimichi** **Chōji vs. Mūmaru**

Mūmaru's entire body was covered by intricately wrapped bandages, with only his violet-colored eyes and nose being visible, giving him an overall mummy-like appearance. Along with this, he was wearing an Iwa hitai-ate and a pair of black pants. He also wasn't wearing any footwear as his feet are also bandaged heavily.

Chōji has spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and he has a much more robust physique than most other ninja. Chōji's was wearing black shorts, a long white scarf, a short-sleeved, blue haori, over a white shirt with the kanji for 'food' on it, small, hoop earrings, and his legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. His hitai-ate was styled in a manner that allowed two tufts of hair to poke out at each side.

"Oh, he looks strong." Chōji said, cowering.

Kakashi patted him on the back, "If you win, I'll take you out for some barbeque." he said, attempting to bribe the young Akimichi. It worked, too, as the young boy jumped up, a fire suddenly lit in his eyes. "Alright! I'll win this!" he declared, jumping down to the arena floor.

His opponent, who was already on the arena floor stayed silent, gazing calmly at Chōji.

"Are both competitors ready?" Hayate asked, receiving two nods in return. "Begin."

Chōji made two handsigns, **"Baika no Jutsu!(Multi-Size Technique!)" **Chōji's abdomen expanded and he tucked his head, arms, and legs into his body. **"Nikudan Sensha!(Human Bullet Tank!)" **Chōji's expanded body rolled towards Mūmaru, who easily dodged the straightforward attack.

Mūmaru made a handsign of his own and called out, **"Meisaigakure no Jutsu!(Hiding with Camouflage Technique!)" **Mūmaru's body seemed to disappear, erasing his presence completely.

Chōji, however, didn't stop. He kept rolling every which way, trying to find the invisible boy. After ten minutes of continuous rolling, embarrassing Kakashi because of his student's simple and rather idiotic tactic, Chōji stopped rolling and his Multi-Sized Technique faded, and he bent over, panting in exhaustion. The 'plump' boy stiffened as he felt a kunai at his neck. The Iwa genin suddenly faded back into view, appearing behind Chōji, and holding a kunai at his neck.

"Forfeit." was all the bandaged boy said.

Chōji didn't want to give up. Some of it was because he wanted to be a Chūnin, but it was mostly because he wanted to go out for barbeque. However, despite what some people might think, he was not stupid. He recognized that his opponent was far out of his league, and there was nothing he could do. So, with slumped shoulders and a defeated tone of voice, he raised his hand.

"I forfeit." he said.

Hayate nodded and coughed, "Winner: Mūmaru."

Up on the Konoha side of the balcony, Naruto grinned, "He's strong. Possibly the strongest person here. Aside from me, of course." he said cheerfully.

Kiba raised an eyebrow, still fussing over the recently awakened Akamaru, "What makes you say that? He didn't show much, and Chōji's not exactly one of the most powerful Genin here." he said, causing Shikamaru to narrow his eyes at him.

"Chōji's stronger than you know. Don't underestimate him just because he didn't impress you." he said, somewhat angrily.

Kiba blinked in surprise at Shikamaru's strong defense of Chōji, "Alright, sorry. But still, what makes you think that Iwa guy is strong, Naruto?"

Naruto stared at the Iwa-genin, who was walking back to his team. He sighed, "I can't explain it. It's like a gut instinct. I don't know why I think he's strong, I just know he is." he said, confusing Kiba.

"What are talking about?" he asked in frustration.

"Ooh, look! The next match is starting!" he cried happily, pointedly ignoring Kiba, annoying the Inuzuka further.

**Fū vs. Tenten**

The mint-green haired girl let out a cry of happiness, and jumped down to arena floor. She watched impatiently as her opponent, Tenten, took her time by walking down the stairs.

Fū was wearing an orange clip in her short, spiky mint green hair. It matched her eye color, which was also orange. Her ninja outfit consisted of a short, sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. Her hitai-ate was worn on her right arm. She also carried a cylindrical object in red wrapping on her back.

Tenten had brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing her hair in Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her hitai-ate, which she was wearing in the traditional manner. Her clothes consisted of a pink sleeveless blouse and dark green pants.

"Are both competitors ready?" He asked, receiving an eager nod from the Taki genin, and a confident one from the Konoha kunoichi. "Begin!"

Tenten immediately back flipped and tossed several kunai at her opponent, all aimed at the other girl's vitals. The kunai hit their target, but bounced harmlessly off of Fū, doing no damage at all.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise, "Why didn't those hurt you?" she demanded, shocked.

Fū smirked smugly, raising her arm. For the first time, everyone noticed that her skin seemed to be darker than before, "This is my exoskeleton. IT hardens my skin to the point where almost nothing can pierce it. It's even harder than Takimaru's Doton: Domu, and it doesn't have the weakness to lightning. Those rinky-dink little weapons won't do jack-shit to me." she laughed, but then sighed in disappointment. "I was hoping for a strong opponent. Oh, well, I guess I'll just end it." she said offhandedly.

Tenten growled at being underestimated, "Don't look down on me."

Fū rolled her eyes, "I'm not looking down on you. You're probably a decent kunoichi, but unless you can sharpen your weapons with wind or lightning chakra, you can't hurt me." she said.

"I won't give up!" she declared.

Fū sighed again, "I guess I'll just have to end it quickly. **Hiden: Rinpungakure no Jutsu!(Secret: Hiding in Scale Powder Technique!)" **The Taki kunoichi opened her mouth, expelling a large amount of fine powder, which shone brightly.

Due to the brightly shining power, everyone had to close their eyes, unable to handle the brightness. Everyone heard a few blows being exchanged, and when the bright light ceased, Fū was revealed standing over an unconscious Tenten.

Hayate coughed, "Winner: Fū."

As the medics came to collect the Konoha kunoichi's unconscious body, Fū turned to them, "You might want to check her out for some internal injuries. My punches can shatter stone." she commented proudly, and the medics thanked her for the advice. She nodded her head, and walked back up to her team, who congratulated her.

**Nara Shikamaru vs Temari**

Shikamaru groaned but walked down to the arena floor, and was soon joined by Temari. She had green eyes and blonde hair, which was gathered into four ponytails. Temari's outfit consisted of a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition to incorporating fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs, specifically on her right calf and her left thigh, she was also wearing her black hitai-ate around her neck.

"Are both competitors ready?" Hayate asked. Two nods, so, "Begin!"

"This is such a drag. I have to fight a girl." Shikamaru said, irritated.

Temari smirked, "You're unlucky to have to face me. I've been itching to pay you back for stealing our scrolls." she said viciously, pulling her giant metal battle-fan from her back.

"Well, you won't get any of your payback from me." he replied casually.

Temari frowned, "And why's that?" she demanded.

Shikamaru smirked, "Because I've already won."

"What do you-w-what is this. I can't move!" she cried, not able to move her body even the slightest inch with the exception of her face.

"**Kagemane no Jutsu(Shadow Imitation Technique), **success." he drawled lazily.

"B-but you didn't even make a handsign." she stuttered, shocked.

He smirked mysteriously, "I didn't have to." Then, Shikamaru held both hands up as if he were grasping something. He pulled back his head and slammed his head between his hands. Because of his technique, Temari had to copy his movements. Unlike Shikamaru, however, Temari had something between her hands.

A large something.

A large, solid something.

A large, solid, metal something.

Shikamaru released his technique with a sigh, and Temari's unconscious body fell to the floor. He walked back up to his team as he was declared the winner.

Meanwhile, Baki bit his lip, _'Both Kankurō and Temari lost? This was totally unexpected. They are both definitely strong enough to be Chūnin, but their opponents outclassed them. I barely saw that __Nara's shadow extend towards Temari, it was so fast. This isn't good, but at least Gaara got in. That's all that matters.'_ he thought, grimacing at the anger the Kazekage would show at two of his children losing in the preliminaries.

"Great job, Shikamaru!" Naruto congratulated happily, grinning at his friend.

"Whatever." Shikamaru said loftily.

"Yeah, two of my students have passed with flying colors, and I'm sure my third won't disappoint, either." Asuma said, turning to Naruto.

"Oh, I'll pass easily when my match comes up." Naruto said confidently.

Asuma grasped the top of Naruto's head and turned it towards the board, "Then you'd better be ready." he said. Naruto stared at the board, grinning.

**Uzumaki Naruto vs. Asamoya**

Naruto was about to jump over the railing in excitement, but Asuma grabbed his shoulder and leaned close to his ear.

"Why don't you show off a little?" he suggested, smirking a bit.

Naruto grinned toothily, "Will do." he replied and jumped off of the railing, landing on the arena floor across from the female Kiri Genin.

Asamoya was wearing a blue, striped turtleneck with a dark green jacket over it along with black ANBU style pants that stopped at her ankles, and black open-toed boots. She had a large, bandaged object on her back like both of her teammates. She had pale skin and long, reddish-brown hair that was braided down to her lower back.

"Are both competitors ready?" Hayate asked, coughing. Naruto nodded eagerly, and Asamoya nodded confidently.

"Begin!"

_~End~_

You know, writing these matches are kind of fun. I usually only focus on Naruto's fight, but I'm glad I didn't do that here.

You know what I realized this chapter? Tenten can be an awesome ninja. She could learn to infuse chakra into her weapons to make them stronger and produce a variety of affects, but she doesn't for some weird reason. It kind of makes me wonder why she isn't featured more, especially considering that, apparently, she is Kisi's favorite out of all of the four girls of the Konoha 11.

Hey, is it just me, or are people not updating as much as they used to? I mean, I used to get at least one updated story on my favorites list, but now I go days without it.

You know, I'm wondering two things. First, if you could pick one Devil Fruit to eat, which would it be? Don't say the Yami Yami no Mi. I don't like a power that has an automatic advantage over everything else. And it has to be a real fruit, not one you made up. The second is: which village would you live in other than Konoha?

My picks would be the Magu Magu no Mi, followed closely by the Goro Goro no Mi and the Suna Suna no Mi. The reason I didn't pick either of those is that I like magma more than sand, and I don't like the Goro Goro no Mi's weakness to the Gomu Gomu no Mi.

And I would live in Iwagakure. Lightning is my favorite element, but Iwa has a lot of things I like.

You know, the One Piece wiki sucks balls. I looked up Nico Robin, and all it tells me is what she wore throughout the entire series. The only things that's even remotely good are the wiki pages of the Devil Fruits.

See ya later.


End file.
